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MEXICO, 



AND THE 



SOLIDARITY OF NATIONS 



BY GENERAL G. CLUSERET 



NEW YORK: 

BLACKWELL, PRINTER, I'Jl BROADWAY 
1866. 



MEXICO, 



AND THE 



SOLIDARITY OF NATIONS 



BY GENERAL orCLUSERET. 



NEW YORK : 

BLACKWELL, PRINTER, I7I BROADWAY, 



1866. 









'/■■\t4 



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7P^^^ 






W% 1^^^-^, 



SOLIDARITY OF NATIONS. 



• » * 



CHAPTER f. 

"'PHfiiii'jA.'CTS. 

It was ou the oth of January, 1862 t|liat the, first ye^sels of the 
united fleets of France, England and Spain appeared upon the Mexi- 
can coast. 

Spain had taken the first step. Its monarchial impatience could not 
wait, and in its desire to hurry events forward, probably also to profit 
by them, it had not shrunk iVoiu wounding the susceptibility of its 
allies by taking precedence. 

«'■• Excuses and explanations, througli diplomatic agency, ^calmed the 
\wo parties ofiended. 

The Spanish landing corps numbered 7000 men at General Piim's 
orders, that of France, 2,500 men, under Admiral Juvien d© la Gra- 
viere. As for England, she had furnished but 700 men. ,,f ,, . ,j 

The Fort of San Juan d' Ulloa was evacuated without being defend- 
ed, and with it the city of Vera Cruz fell into the hands of the allies. 

Here a series of negociations began, between the plenipotentiaries 
and the government of Juarez, Avhich ended in the Convention of the 
Sol6dad, signed on the 19th of February, 1862. ... 

This convention, signed in the name of France, by Monsieur Du- 
bois de Saligny and Admiral Jurien de la Graviere, contained these 
words: 
"' " Article 1. The constitutional government, which is now in power 
^in the Mexican Republic, having informed the commissaries of the 
allied powers that it does not need the assistance oifered with so much 
benevolence by them to the Mexican people, because that nation con- 
tains within itself suflicient elements of strength to preserve itself from 
all internal revolt ; the allies will have recourse to treaties, to present 
all the reclamations that they are charged to make in the, name of theii- 
respective nations. 

"Article 2. With this view, the representatives of the allied powers 

protesting that they have no intention of injuring the sovereignty 

and integrity of the Mexican Republic, negociations will be opened at 

■Orizaba, &c., &c. ,,:.., ,!■, ,^ .; ,'_,; •,■, [^ ;_ 

"" " Ai'ticle 3. Stipulates that, the allied forces shall have the' rigit' to 

■'occupy the cities of Cordaba, Orizaba and Tehuacau, in order to be 

free from the deleterious influences of Vera Cruz and its environs/* 

If we -observe that, at this epoch, the expedition nurabei'ed in all 

• ■ ^Im-i «oi.lfiuii;boi*.| 8«{T. 



4 MKXICO,ANI>THK 

10,000 men of whom 7,000 belonged to Spain, which had resolved io 
withdraw after a certain conversation between Monsieur Thouvenel 
and Monsieur Mon, in which the latter had declared that in no case- 
would France lend her aid to establish a Mexican Throne in favor of a 
Prince of the house of Bourbon; that, out of the 3,000 remaining, France 
possessed only 2,500, and that the English were about to follow the 
example of Spain, it will be seen what an immense interest Monsiewr 
de Saligny had in deceiving the Mexican government by these preli- 
minaries, in order to give time for the reinforcements to arrive and to 
save the 2,500 unfortunate French soldiers from the vomito and from 
Mexican bullets. 

The preliminaries were never serious in the intent of the French 
government. They were an expediency and nothing more. It is suffi- 
cient, in order to be convinced of this, to observe the progress of events. 
Firstly, take Saligny's diplomatic correspondence, Avhich, from 
beginning to end, insists upon the necessity of founding a stable and 
durable governvient. This, in a sort of stereotyped phrase, became the 
pivot of all future combinations. Every one knows Avhat a stable and 
durable government means in the language of diplomacy. In the 
second place, Monsieur de Saligny supports himself exclusively upon 
the clerical party, beaten by Juarez, the chief of which is Miramon, 
while its lieutenant is Almonte. 

Almonte, at the head of a deputation of notables wandered froHi 
capital to capital, with the crown of Mexico in his pocket. The son oi" 
Leopold refused it, and his son-in-law accepted it. All this had taken 
time. Maximilian must have studied the language of his new subjects. 
Napoleon had to take measures to induce Spain, England and the Uni- 
ted States not to thwart his designs. In fine, it was necessary to 
allow time for the reinforcements to arrive. 

On the 9th of April, 1862, all was ready, and, dissimulation being no 
longer necessary, Almonte removed his mask. 

The French plenipotentiaries addressed the following letter to Qen. 
Doblado : 

" At the moment when General Almonte left France, the govern- 
ment of His Majesty the Emperor of the French had. no doubt that 
hostilities had long since begun between our armies and the Mexican 
armies. General Almonte thpn offered his services to bear words^ of 
conciliation to his fellow countrymen and lead them to comprehend the 
purely benevolent aim which European intervention proposed to itself. 
This overture was welcomed by His Majesty's government, and the 
general was not only authorized but invited to repair to Mexico." 

This is clear, and the duplicity of the French government is appar- 
ent. What is to follow is still more clear. 

On the 16th of April, the preUminaries were denounced by Monsieur 
''ae Saligny, after having been violated by him. and General Almonte ; 
in his proclamation to the Mexicans, previously submitted to the criti- 
cism of the French plenipotentiaries, was able to say, officially : 
y " Having reason for knowing, as I do know, the desire of the allied 
"governments, and lespecially that of the Emperor of the French, a desire 
which is no other than to see in our unfortunate country and for our- 
selves, a yiahU government, based upon peace and morality, <fec., &c." 

This proclamation ended by the promise of a government adapted 



3 0r. IDAKITT Oh' NATIONS. O 

to the religious belief of the Mexican people, which meant respect for 
tihe property and privileges of the clergy; a promise which has nbt 
been kept by Maximilian, inde ire. 

Monsieur de Saligny, in virtue of the adage that all bad cases can 
be denied, wished to deny the rupture of the treaty and throw the re- 
sponsibility upon the government of Juarez. He spoke of attacks 
made upon the property of certain French, and of some isolated sold- 
iei*s killed upon the Vera Cruz road. It is impossible to be more 
-affirmative, moredear and precise than Jesu Teran, the minister of Jua- 
rez, in his reply. To the reproach of attacks made upon the pi'operty 
of French subjects, he denies that a single fact of the kind has 
taken place; to that of the French soldiers having been assassinated, 
he states that this is the first intelligence of the kind that he has received, 
and declares himself ready to punish, if the plenipotentiaries are able 
to prove what they advance. In return, Jesu Teran complained in the 
uftme of his government that the French had not respected the treaty, 
tliat they had not only brought back into the country and protected 
men who had fled from it to escape from justice at the hands of the 
law, but that they had paralyzed the efforts of the legitmate authori- 
ties and have gone so far as to imprison and threaten the latter with 
4eath, in several cases. 

Now, to support this assertion. I find, in the official collection of 
4,he messages and diplomatic correspondence of 1862, a letter fi'ora a 
certain Telavera to General Ixtapo, commander-in-chief of the army 
©f the East, dated from Cosmokatepee, 17tli of April, 1862, in which 
he excuses himself for not having executed certain orders relative to 
the National Guard of Cordaba, where he had been on the 14th, be- 
cause the French had already invaded the country, and " had forbidden 
the. authorities to lend their united support to the supreme government {that of 
■Juarez)" under penalty of being rendered personally responsible.'''' The French 
plenipotentiai'ies had not, in point of fact, shrunk from tarnishing the 
Iwnor of France by violating even this primordial condition, which 
had served as a basis to the treaty , "to wit, that in case of rupture, 
each of the belligerent parties will resume the site occupied before the 
^conferences." The French, when the convention was broken, refused 
to evacuate. I believe this is the only example of like nature in the 
military annals of France, although a breach of trust has always been 
the trade mark of the Bonaparte family. 

Furthermore, the duplicity of the French government had complete- 
ly disgusted the allied powers. The rupture of the treaty without 
plausible motives, and the fixed determination to go to Mexico, com- 
pleted the breaking off of the convention of the 3 1st of October. 
This rupture took place on the 9th of April. In that day's session 
Moiisieur de Saligny, urged on by the emigres, who were already organiz- 
ed and led by the influence of Jefferson Davis' cabinet, insisted that 
tkey should march upon Mexico, while the plenipotentiaries of Spain 
a«d England objected : " that no act was of a nature to justify this, 
revolution." This drew upon General Prim, from Saligny, the ac- 
«issation of having wished to work for his own profit and of coveting 
4he Mexican crown. 

At the end of this session, England and Spain resolved-to treat sepa- 



t> M K X I C O , A K D T H E 

rately with Juarez, which they did at Puebla; and they were none the 
worse for it. • 

Throughout the aflair, SaUgny had displayed that spirit of subaltern 
intrigue which loves intrigue for its own sake and cannot resist the 
desire to glorify its own acts. He wanted ian admirer of the- depth of 
his conception, and so chose General Serriino as his confidant. 

On the 24th of November, 1861, he wrote to him to ridicule the 
"incredible innocence of perfidious Albion." The word innocence be- 
ing underlined. Five days later he promised proofs of '' the simpli- 
city of the British minister ;" further on, his lynx eye discovered what 
no one had yet been able to see. He announced " curious revelations 
with regard to thefchimerical project of alliance between Mexic6, Engiand 
arid the United States against France and Spain." So much inapti- 
tude is scarcely creditable,nevertheless this man's warnings were believed 
and influenced Louis Napoleon's policy. General Prim, Avhd.had pass- 
ed sometime at Vichy, and had, like inany others, paid his tribute to 
imperial seduction, was indignant at being taken for a dupe. 
yOn the 22d of January, 1862, Prim addressed a dispatch to his 'g6'ir- 
ei'nment, in which I observe the following passage : "■*' 

"The Emperor of the French has made known to' ttife'Queetfs 
government, by the intervention of his ambassador, that he has resolv- 
ed upon increasing by 3,000 mCn the expedition destined' for Mexico. 

'"The object of this increase seems to be to unite elements enough 
to go to the Capital, in order not to prolong the operations and the 
sojourn of the land and sea forces in that country upon its coasts. ■ 
■ •' The insti'uCtions communicated to Your Excellency are clear and 
foi'mal. I have' nothing to add to them. But it is proper that Your 
Excellency should know that the project .for the establishment of a 
monarchy in Mexico appears everyVday to^assiinie a more definite 
form. ■ ■ ■ : ■ > • 

" Some' iialives of thiS' country-^and this is worthy of note — ^who 
reside or are established in Europe, are working to that end." 

On the 17th t)f March, General Prim addressed a fresh dispatch to 
his goverhment : ' '^ '^i » : ' ^i ^•:■..: .; ; 

^ " The articles in the Frenclipapefsf^'^ich openly aiiiiiouiieed that the 
mission of our imperial troops is to place the arcli-duke Maximilian 
upon the throne, contribute to cause difticnlties to be foreseen not only 
between France and Mexico, but between the inijierial government 
and those of Spain and England. At the same tiine Avitli Generals 
LawJ'encey, Almonte, Haro, Ramirez and other promoters of the mon- 
archial project have arrived at Vera Gruz. The Mexican government, 
informed of the project of these gentlemeft. has just . addressed a 
letter to us, in which it announces its firm resolution of using 
its right, by causing those enemies of the nation. to be pursued, who, 
finding themselves proscribed, are peneti'ating into.. Mexico; with culp- 
able intent." ,;■' -. -..i .-.-. :.'i..v 

Finally, on the 23d of March, General Prim's iijidignation bttrst forth 
in the following letter to Ad mii'al Jurieu de la'Csrraviere, the coninland- 
■ea'-in-chief of tlie French forces. ;••,/■.'/ -i.r ;.■,.,' i # ;: r. ' * i-. ■■/.<. -,'■ 

"The act of conducting the political emu/res into. the.interior;<»f the 
count^L'y, in order that tjiey may orgjinize a conspiracy which, .will 
one day destroy the existing government ; such an act, when you have 



S O L 1 D A U 1 T y OK N A T I O K S . 7'* 

come forward as friends, and are waiting for the day set for conference 
is without n precedent, and I cannot recover from my astonishment 
thereat. ' 

" If you have received the orders of your government with regiard 
to this, I confess that I no longer recognize the loisdom, justice and 
greMnesa of the imperial policy, as I no longer recognize the lofty 
spirit of conciliation of the Emperor towards England and Spain. Fm* 
I am grieved to tell you so, niy friend, but it must be done : the policy 
which you propose to follow in Mexico, in contempt of the conference, 
since it is not your duty to consult it in so grave an affair, will have 
the unfortunate i-esult, such is ray belief, of causing the friendly rela- 
tions between England and Spain, towards France, to grow cold, and 
no one in the world Avill be more pained at this than I, for no one in 
thb world has more veneration and respect for the Emperor than I 
have, no one is more wholly attached to him, and no one loves France , 
and the French better." ' . 

Was General Prim vexed as to his - persona;! iiopes*? Had he, as 
Monsieur Saligny had reproached him with doing, on the 9th 
of April, really formed apian of Working for himself and plac- 
ing the crown of Montezuma xipon his own brow? Certain 
it is, that the man who professes veneration for the perjured 
hero of the 2d of December, did not display very fastidious 
morality. What indignation he shows, however ; Would not any 
one fiuppose it to be that 6f an honest man V 

On the 17th of March, General Prim wrote to Louis Napoleon. the; 
following letter from Orizaba ; ' : n sn ,.> ,:;;,/..._ u(i ' 

"SiKE, ■.:0;qri'. ;;'>7;mj . ''.'i'^ , ijv> »!■,./■. il mItc'I*' 

Your Imperial Majest}'' has deigned to write rae a lettej-j 
with your own hand, which, owing to the benevolent words it containp, 
with rel^tioji; to myself, will be a title of honor to my postenl^y. ;* ; ,j.j*i 
* * I; r>fr<i'/. * . .-..fi! i:Jf*?-, .■ '- ;* * * *,I^;-. ^i- - lA'^^i- 
As regards just reclamations, there can be no <llvergency betAVeen 
the coramissiaries of the allied powers ; still less Avould there: be any 
between Your Majesty's troops and those of His Catholic Alajesty'a.' 
But the arrival of General Almonte at Vera Cruz, of the former min- 
ister Haro, of Father Miranda and other Mexican emigres, brings for- 
ward the idea of creating a monarchy in favor of Prince Maximilian 
of Austria, a project which, if they may be believed, is to be supported 
and sustained by the forces of Your Imperial Majesty and tends to 
create a position difficult for all, and more difficult and hurtful -to the 
general-in-chief of the Spanish troops, who, (from the tenor of the in- 
structions from his government, based upon the London Convention^ 
almost the same as those given by Your Majesty's government to your 
worthy and noble Vice-Adrairal La Graviere), would find himself in 
the painful necessity of not contributing to the realization of the views 
of Your Imperial Majesty, if those views are really for the elevation, 
of a throne in this country on which to placd 4:;hje arcliTdnke Maximilr 
ian of Austria. • ' ' ■,;!i .!> ■'■■■ lu.:. .^ ■■ '■-,■.-. 

" It is besides my pi-ofound conviction that, in this comttry, men 
with monarchial sentiments are scarce, and it is logical that this should 
be, since thisi eoilntry has never known monarehy in the.'.fperSon of 



a , M. K X t C O , A N I> T H 10 

Spanish nioiiarchs, but solely in that of the viceroys who governed each^,') 
aeeoi'ding to his good or bad judgment and his own light, and all ae-u? 
cording to the custom and mode of governing nations made use of at 
arperiod not very remote. 

" Monarchy, then, has not left in this country the immense interests 
of secular nobility, as was the case in Europe when, under the im-,, 
pulsion of revolutionary tempests, thrones crumbled away ; it has not>^ 
left moral interests either, nor any thing that concerns the present ' 
genei'ation to desire the reestablishment of a system which it has 
not known, and which no one has taught it to desire or venerate. The ., 
neighborhood of the United States, and the ever severe language of i 
those republicans against tbe monarchial institution, have contributed 
to create here a veritable hatred of monarchy. In spite of constant 
agitation and disorder, the establishing of the Republic, which took 
place more than forty years ago, has created habits, customs and even 
a certain republican language, which it would not be easy to destroy. 

" For these and other reasons, which cannot escape the lofty pene- 
tration of Your Imperial Majesty, you will understand that the pre- 
ponderance of opinion in this country, is not and cannot be monarchial. 
If logic did not suffice to demonstrate this, it would be sufficiently 
proved by the fact that, although the allied flags have been floating for 
two months over the public square in Vera Cruz, and we now occupy 
the important cities of Cordoba, Orizaba, and Tehuacan, in which no 
Mexican forces have remained, nor any other than civil authoi'ity, 
neither the conservatives nor the partisans of the monarchy have made 
the least demonstration which might ever show the allies that such 
partisans exist. 

"Far be it from me, Sire, to even suppose that the power of Your 
Imperial Highness is insufficient to raise a throne in Mexico for the 
House of Austria. Your Majesty directs the destiny of a great nation, 
rich in brave and intelligent men, rich in resources, and which mani- 
fests its enthusiasm every time that it is called upon to second the views 
of Your Imperial Majesty. It would be easy for Your Imperial 
Majesty to lead Prince Maximilian to the capital and to crown him 
king ; but the king would meet with no support in the country except 
that of the conservative chiefs, ivho did not dream of establishing the 
monarch/ token they were bij)oi(.ier, and who only think of it now tJuit they 
are dispersed, conquered, and forced to he emigrants." 

"Some rich men also will admit a foreign monarch who may arrive 
sustained by Your Majesty's soldiers ; but this monarch will have 
nothing to uphold him when that support fails him, and would fall 
from the throne raised by Your Majesty, as others of the powerful 
upon earth will fall on the day when the imperial mantle of Your 
Majesty ceases to cover and protect them. I know that Your Imperial 
Majesty, guided by your lofty sense of justice, will not wish to force 
this country to change its institutions in so radical a manner, if the 
country does not desire it and demand it of itself But the chiefs of 
the conservative party, who have landed at Vera Cruz, say that it will 
suffice to consult the elevated classes o:^ society, without caring for the 
others, and this agitates minds, and inspires a fear that violence will be 
done to the will of the nation. 

"The English troops, Avhich wei*e to come to Orizaba, and had 



3 <) I, I r> A K I T y O 1' N A T J O IS H . ;5J 

already prepared their means of transportation, re-embarked as soon as 
they became aware that a larger number of French forces would arrive 
than was stipulated for at the Convention. Your Majesty can jtido^e of 
the importance of this retreat. 

" I ask a thousand pardons of Your Imperial Majesty for having pre- 
-sumed to submit so long a letter to your attention ; but I have thought 
that the true manner of replying worthily to Your Majesty's goodness 
to me, was to tell the truth, and the whole truth, as to the political 
state of this country, as I comprehend it. In doing so, I have 
not only fulfilled a duty, but obeyed the great, noble, and respectful 
attachment which I feel for the person of Your Imperial Majesty. 

Count of Reuss, Genebai. Prim." 

It clearly appears from this letter, that Mexico is republican, and not 
monarchial. It was only on the 3d of July, 1862, that Louis Napoleon 
replied, indirectly, to General Prim's effusion, by a letter to General 
Forey. But we have not yet arrived at that. Let us resume the 
course of events. 

It is henceforth a fact acquired to history that the idea of the French 
government, from the outset, was clearly determined in contradiction 
to the repeated assertions of its chief and of his ministers, in the 
presence of the Legislative Body, as well as in connection with foreign 
governments. England alone saw clearly, and feigned to associate 
itself with French policy in order the better to involve its originator. 
This policy, it is true, was not the exclusive work of Saliguy and 
the emigres, but it is certain that they were the precipitating and 
predominant cause thereof. 

We shall soon see Louis Napoleon's real thought reveal itself in his 
letter to General Forev. 



CHAPTER II. 

V ACTS (continued) . 

Thk proclamation which denounced the already violated treaty, 
began by a falsehood and ended by rhodomontade. It was published 
on the 16th of April, and dated from Orizaba. It beganthus : 

" Mexicans ! we have not come here to interfere in your internal 
•dissension," &c., &c. 

This was published when the proscribed Mexican politicians were 
brought back in French wagons, protected by French bayonets on 
the same day, 16th of April, when Almonte, their chief, launched forth 
his proclamation, and spoke in the name of the Emperor of the French. 
It ended with these words: "The flag of France has been planted 
upon Mexican soil ; it ivill not recoil." This was but four years ago, 
and the French flag, so well planted, is already taken down by those 
who put it up. 

In spite of the violation of the treaty by the French plenipotentiaries, 
■General Larapoza did not wish to retort. Ho announced to General 
Xiawreneez, AJ^ho had just beconte the coramander-in-cHief of the Frencli 



10 MEXICO, A NDTHK 

expedition, that -his sick had nothing to fear, and could "femain in 
the hospital, under the safeguard of Mexican loyalty " 

Aleujada est! the sword Avas drawn ; 11,000 men and 750 millions 
wei-e about to pay for the visions of a Bonaparte, the Jecker credit, the 
inaptitude and covetousness of a Morny and a Saligny; touching 
example of the manner in which nations are administered when they 
confide the direction of their affairs to one man alone. ' '''"'-^ *■'•■' ■' -" ' 

Monsieur de Saligny had represented in his proclamation,' as- well as 
in his correspondence and j^rivate conversation, that the majority of the 
Mexican people were oppressed by the violent minority, who had 
placed Juarez in power. To hear him, one would have supposed that 
it was sufficient to spread the flag of France xipon the breeze of mon- 
archial . . . . . liber ti/, to behold that oppressed majority flying for 
shelter beneath its glorious folds. General Lawrencez, newly landed, 
entirely ignorant of men and things in the country, listened to his 
speeclies and believed them. His nature led him to do so. I wa& 
acquainted with General Lawrencez in the Crimea; he then command- 
ed a company of Chasseurs de Vmcehnes- we formed part of the same 
brigade. I never saw a man so fastidious about discipline, so haughty 
and so little beloved by his soldiers. His regiment was the only corps 
in the brigade that came from France; all the rest were composed of 
old troupes d''Afrique,hvonzed and hardened, upon whom neither 
fatigue nor malady had any hold, but Avhose discipline was naturally 
somewhat freer. He' was so fearful that we would corrupt his troops 
that he forbade our soldiers to enter his camp. A fervent Catholic and 
monarchist by descent, tall, dry and thin, narrow from head to foot, 
physically as well as morally ; as to the rest, honest, upright and brave; 
such was the man chosen to re-establish monarchy in Mexico: The 
wish being father to the thought, he believed what'he was told, relied 
upon Mexican enthusiasm and upon streets strewn with flowers, and 
upon balconies where pretty hands were to be seen waving ^white hand- 
kerchiefs, and so directed himself towards Puebla. On the 5th, he came 
upon the monastery of Guadaloupie, transformed into a citadel, and was 
received with grape instead of flowers. 

A sad deception! But the trick Avas played ; a corner of the French 
flag had caught upon a hitch in national honor ; gold, . blood, flag, 
everything was about to follow, and Saligny rubbed his liands, while 
General Lawrencez, indignant and deceived, published, upon the "iTth of 
May, 1862, the following order of the day, the sad and dignified pro- 
testation of an honest man conquered by surprise ajrid njaae the dupe 
of intrigue: ,, .>i> ,.•>;), ,fi«". • 

"Soldiers," &c.: Your march' upon Mexico has been arrested by 
material obstacles which you were far from expecting, after , the infor- 
mation that had been given you; it had been repeated to you a 
himdred times that the city of Puebla summoned you with every good 
wish, and that its populatioij would hasten in your footsteps arid' crown 
N/ou with flowers. ' / '' .. 

"It was with thi^ confidence inspired by these deceitful"' iigsUranftes 
that we presented ourselves before Puebla, This. city was'surroiinded 
by barricades, and overlQoked by a fortress Avhere means of defence 
had been accumulated." '. ■'■-.. .. < ,i . . ,i. 

tt is not only the poWevl'ei^'g^ voicfe (if an ioi^ottetit gfenerafl'^w^ 



S O 1> I D A R i T T OK N A T f'O N S . tl 

dn^ei'^^fe to protest against the duplicity of ''Napoleoii's policy,"' bur 
the smoking blood of the sons of France, sacrificed to put a few crowns 
in the pocket of a favorite, to overthrow the liberty and laws of a friendly 
country for the advantage of a troop of factious in en, and to give the 
crown to an Austrian archduke; that blood will long cry out for 
vengeance to the ear of the French nation, to teach 'them that the- 
surest means of saving their gold a^id their lives is to manage t^beir 
affairs themselves. i^if. . .-, • . ;; . < •■,, ■ 

The check at Puebla could not remain unavenged.' General Forey^ 
was sent with reinforcements to replace General Lawrencez, Avho was 
beaten, deceived, and removed from hi^ command. iii3 embarked at 
Cherbourg oh the 30th, of July. The' effective of the troops under his 
ordisrs amounted to 20,000 men, and oh the loth of February, 186.5, 
after having divided his army into three (Columns, lie directed himself 
towards Puebla, Avhich.he attacked on the 18th of March, and captured 
on the' 18t|i of May. :On*the 10th of Juti^V'lip^ade His entrance' into' 

Mexico: ■'= "^•- • -'^ ''*"'^'"'';':.'^';''T.;'''''''''. v3m^^^^ 

The first act of the military campaign' ^Vasajt^tt' eii'dii'^ me. ^^dc'6HS'^ 
act of the political campaign was about to begin. '"''''."'''•'' '■'"'-''- ;'■'-'■■ 

,^A yea,r previous, the 3d of July 1862, Louis jSTapoleonjii^ I'epfy to^ 
General Pj-im's letter, had addressed oiie.jto (-reneral Forey, in which K^l 
unveiled his thou2;hts.i . It is as follows: .' ■ " ■ ^'}/'' '' :;. 

■■ ■ ■ " '^ -• ' • ^' : ■.;■ . ' : ;MNi,li j- ■•' ;';i ;■; 

■ •• ••!••- .,!i- ■..,,:-■■,■ >iKONTAJN^BtEAjl73,July.,3, 186^ 

,...•■■' ,:*■*** *:*.I*;eoplqj}vill not be wanting who 
will ask you wliii^tiw are about Jp impend mi^xi^aiid^ monej/ Co foaad:art'galar 
fiovernment in Mexico. ■ ; ,. ,i/^ 'j.> ■■■lUi.Ks •■•.■ >M')lii,--.'.., j>.,ri(!(;;'-> ■ 

In the present state of the: civilization ipf the wotrldj the. prosperity of 
America is not inditferent tQ Europe ;,/foV'iti^jiheivho feeds our facto- 
ries and causes our commerce to live. It is to our interest that the. Re- 
public of the United States should be powerful and prosperous, but we 
have no interest in her possessing the whole Gulf of Mexico, in Tier 
having dominion from there, over, the Antilles, as well as South 
America, and being the only dispenser of tlie products of the New 
World. We now see, through sad' experi 6 nee, how precarious is the 
late of a branch AVliich is reduced to seeking its prime 'hiatt^f in a'single 
market, ol which it endures all the vicissitude^. ■.,?/' i,, -.in ^ ■ 'T 
, i If, on the contrary, .Mexico preserves its independence and maintains 
the integrity of its territory, if a stable goverqinent is, constituted there\ 
with the assistance of France, ive shalL have .restored to. the Laiin ra,ce. 
upon the opposite side of tJie oc-an its strength:^ imd 'iti, prestige ; we shall 
have guaranteed their security to our polonies in the Autiiles and to 
those of Spain; we shall have established, our beneficent infiuence in 
the centre of America; ,and:this influence, by, creating immense open- 
ings to pur com,ti}erce,,,will j^rocure to us the matter indispensable to 
our industry. ,; .,,;, \\^ 

. Mexico, thus regenerated, will always be favorable to us, not only 

through gratitude, but.becaiise its interests are ia, harmony with ours, 

aud it .will ^di\^, p.oi^t.;(^qppui..iXfi. '\^^\ G(^.^iaX., .re^^ipn^j with Europenu 

powers.: vj/: ;,) {■Au;-.'M -v;; m.u' ,o?.<rj->!^vri< ; 'y.i •'■^\--(:n\ Napoleoi\. ,, 

There lies th'^^'trtrfe' fend 'seetet thOQishtfdf the man who directs ''the 



i2 ,M E X I C O , A K r* T H K 

destiny of France, and wishea to found a dynasty. It is against the 
United States and its form of government that the enterprise was 
planned. It is in the name of an interest, commercial to the French 
people, dynastic to their chief, that the French flag crossed the ocean. 
But do not let us forget, above all, this precious avowal ; it is im- 
portant, and contains the solution of the question. I shall return to it : 
"/i{ t5 she, Arnenca, who feeds our factories and causes our commerce to live". 

The political campaign opened by the re-nnion of a junta of note, 
completed by Almonte from among his friends and the partisans of the 
clergy. This junta, without consulting the people, who could not be 
consulted on the existing state of the country, decided that the arch- 
duke, Maximilian, was the man designed by Providence to secure the 
happiness of the Mexicans, and resolved to send to Mii'amon a deputa- 
tion charged with oflering, definitely and officially, that crown which 
for more than a year had been dragged over the dust of the European 
highways, sent from the Hapsburgs to the Coburgs, the Coburgs to 
the Hapsbm-gs, and which, since the taking of Vera Cruz, the French 
trooper had been carrying in his cartridge-box. 

As Maximilian would only accept a crown purified by the people's 
sanction, a vote of the people Avas improvised for him without pleMm- 
tum or legal authority, and on the 10th of April, 1864, in spite of Mr. 
Seward's previsions, which affirm, in his letters to Mr. Corwin, "tliat 
if ever a thought of monarchial restoration in Mexico had been enter- 
tained in France, that thought had long been given up," the Mexican 
imperial throne was raised and constituted, /9?-o tempore, by the 
acceptance of the archduke Maximilian, who embarked, four days 
after, at Miramon, for Vera Cruz. "It is not all to cause one's self to 
be proclaimed president or emperor of Mexico," said a celebrated 
Mexican general to me one day, " any one can succeed without any 
more trouble than Maximilian had ; the thing is to maintain one's telf." 

France and its protege were soon to perceive the truth of this asser- 
tion. From the seizure of Mexico was to date that war against an 
intangible enemy, constantly beaten, annihilated, yet, like the phoenix, 
constantly arising from its own ashes. 

I have set forth the principal vicisitudes of this war in an article 
wiitten for the Army and Navy Journal, 29th July, 1865. 

The taking of Mexico put the French army in possession of the 
central zone of Mexico, whose great axis extends from Vera Cruz to 
Mexico, passing by Puebla. All roads, radiating from the centre to 
the circumference start, in the northern region, from Mexico, and in the 
.southern region from Vera Cruz. Juarez and his generals occupied the 
heads of these roads ; it was in order to disperse them that five columns 
immediately set themselves in motion. Vera Cruz, Puebla, and Mexico 
were chosen as bases of operation. The first of these places was left 
to the Mexicans, Imperialists, and negroes brought from Egypt ; the 
second was confided to Colonel Jeanningros, and the third to General 
Neiger. The most important columns directed themselves to wai'ds the 
north, one to the east, under General Douay's command, the other to 
the west under that of General Bazaine. The first of these generals 
made himself master of Queretaro, and the second of Morelia, then 
both effected a junction at Guanajotp, whence, reinforced by ]^e2{:ican 



SOLIDARITY OF K A T I O X g . 13 

troops of Miramon, they continued theii* march towards San liuiij! de 
Potosi and Durango. 

It is unnecessary to follow these colulnns in all the details of a skir- 
mishing war against an enemy whose troops were without organization, 
discipline, or energy, who fled instead of fighting, who could not resist 
with success even when fighting ten against one. There were excep- 
tions ; but they were few. And the Fi'ench General-in-Chief was not 
long in announcing that five provinces enjoyed perfect tranquility. 

Such was the situation on the 12th June, when the new Emperor 
made his entry into the capital. Nevertheless, in spite of tranquility 
being loudly proclaimed, the war continued, the French easily repeating 
their victories. At Guanajuato, on the 27th June, at Titacuaro, on the 
2d July, they beat the Mexican patriots. On the 5th July, Commander 
Marshall embarked at Vera Cruz at the head of six hundred men, and 
landed at Alvarado on the morrow, for the purpose of attacking 
General Garcia, Avho had established himselt in an entrenched camp in 
the Gorge of Conejo, and was protected by four little forts. On the 
same evening the camp, forts, baggage, munitions, etc., were all in 
Commander Marshall's power, and two days later he took the city of 
Tlacotolpan. On the 1st August, Colonel Tourre forced the passage 
of Cantabria, and occupied Huajutla. On the 10th August, Porforio 
Dikz assumed the offensive in his turn, and attacked Colonel Giraud, 
but his patriotism was powerless against the French organization, and 
he retired, losing four cannon and seven hundred men. On the 9th 
August, Colonel Clinchant had beaten General Neri near Tourlot, and 
made General Echeverria prisoner. Meanwhile, Uraga had deserted 
the National cause, to suiDni't himself to the foreigner, and Vidaurri 
had betrayed his govei'nment. 

On the night of the 2 4th August, Cortinas arrived at 3Iatainoras, 
and Mejia, at the head of 4,000 men, after having made his junction 
with Colonel Du Pin's banditti, advanced to drive Cortinas thence. 
General Castaguy, at the same time, marched upon Monterey, the 
capitjil of Nuevo Leon, at the head of a very strong column. He ar- 
rived there on the 2Cth August, took possession of the city witliout a 
combat, found fifty pieces of artillery there, and promulgated a decree 
of organization, in Avhich we read a curious article that Ave quote. It 
needs scarcely any commentary. After having provided for all situa- 
tions by the first article, the second adds that ' any person designated 
by the preceding article who refuses to fulfill the offices confided to him, 
will be immediately punished witli six months' imprisonment, in con- 
formity with the law.' 

On his side, General L. Heriller, commander of the subdivision of 
Zacdtecas, wrote to the political prefect of Dilrango:— ' Sincd; in despite 
of my efforts, the landholders will see nothing — understand nothing, 
the decrees which impose a fine of a thousand dollars upon the land- 
holders who do not warn the authorities of the movements of the ene- 
my are maintained in all their rigor. All those who by any means 
Avhatever intimidate the population, or trammel the operations of the 
government, shall be under penalty of being brovght be/urea court-mar Hal, 
transported to Martitiique, or sent to a locality where they will t)e 
under the eye of military authority, arid subjected to the other penal- 
ties set forth by the law.' 



These examples sufficiently explain what Majfimilian means by saying 
lie is indebted for his crown to the 'universal, free, and unanimous vote 
of the Mexicans,' ^nd what Louis Napoleon means by consulting them. 
liis repetitia placent. What succeeded on the 2d December in France 
Imust succeed also in Mexico. ,And in order that nothing niay be 
wanting in that organized terror which hangs over the people's vote, 
the hero of the coupd-etat. inscribes rape, theft, and murder upon the 
flag of France: and. then, after creating that unprecedented body which 
Oolonel Du ]?in calls ' coritra-guerrillas,' and which honest men call 
banditti,, he tells theni, ' Gp and make universal suffrage work out my 
purpose.' An officer of the French staff, in. relating to us the horrors 
committed by those contra-guerrillas, said: '1 would rather fall into 
-the hands of Juarez' guerillas than into those of the French contra- 
guerillas ; with the first, persons are often shot, with the last always. 
Bestiality and ferocity Math them are carried ' to their uttermost extent. ' 
Their manner of proceeding reminds me of the Piedmontese gerdarnies 
in Matesa in 1860, under Cialdini and, Pinelli. A peasant had been 
uienounced as an insurgent through personal revenge. His wife hast- 
ened to Cialdini, to whom she proved her husband's innocence He 
sent a telegraphic order to the Brigadier of the gendarmerie to set the 
peasant free; the wife was pouring forth her grateful thanks, when the 
Brigadier returned this laconic reply : ^ Provisionally shot.'' The Mexi- 
cans ^xe provisiunally .^hotlOY the French contra-guerillas. 

i As a consequence' of this provision ary measure, defection from the 
^lawful government and adhesion to that of thestraliger increased, and 
there were 5,500,000 votes at least, according to Mai'shal Bazaine-^ 
who was called upon to initiate this strange mode of consulting popu- 
lations — to do his work. ;'"'• "■ i 
In spite of repeated victories and various success; in spite of 'the 
salutary terror inspired by the contra-guerillas, and the reiterated asser- 
tions of the Monitear Unu'er&al (an official paper of the French Empire) 
^'^with regard to pacification, the safety of tlie roads, and the spontane- 
"bus adhesion of the population to this hew regime, we read in the 
Mexican papers that a stage-coach was stopped at a league and a half 
from Mexico the day before ; that a day befoi'e that, it was stopped at 
two leagues distance. And the French engineers employed tipon the 
Vera Cruz Railroad write : ' It is sad not to be able to go forty paces 
from the woi'ks without an escort. Or running the risk of being shot.' 
On his side, Maximilian treated with the Trans- Atlantic Company for 
the transportation of seven thousand Austrians and several thousand 
Belgians, to protect him from the enthusiasm of his subjects. 

It would be tedious-— in resuming the recital of military events — to 
,do more than briefly indicate the results attained. General Castagny 
baving seized Monterey,his operations were now mainly directed against 
Juarez, who had concentrated in the state of Durango the troops of 
Negrete, Ortega, and Doblado. Success still rested with the French. 
The Mexicans were badly whipped by a greatly inferior force. Juarex 
fled with a few cavalrymen, Patoni was isolated from supports, and 
Ortega could not even retain his staff. Meantime, Mejia entered 
Matamoras Avithout the inhabitants striking a blo>v,. Cortinas submit- 
ted himself to the emph-e and publicly fraternized wfth Mejiii. ; Canapes 



3 O L 1 JD A K, I T r O > iN A T 1 O N S . 15 

alone refused to submit. He crossed thp Bio Grande. with, fp.ur huijr 
dred men, and was disarmed by Coiqnel F'ord. ,., ', 

Success always causes detection. Zuloga, the former president of 
Mexico, General La Gorza,:the fornier governor of Tamaulipas, Gene- 
ral Batadi-e, Iturbide's former aid-de-camp, Vidaurri, the former 
governor of Nuevo Leon, and General Quirpga, his lieutenant, came 
to submit themselves to the new Emperor, upon whom all seenied to 
smile, and who, meanwhile, journeyed on amidst the acclamations, 
more or less sincere, of the population ; acclamations which, within the 
memory ,o^im^n,^^^ay(9..iieiVej- been wanting to , so vereigns: on their 
journeys. ;,: k.-,.. ,,..,.,;. ,.,{ ;;^,,, / . ...: ri •■• ' 

In order to confirm this satisfactory aspect, of the situation, the 
return to France of the 1st and 20th battalions of c/iasseu?-^^' a pecT, 
was loudly proclaimed, and that of the 90th of the line, as well as of 
six hundred men who had served their time, belonging to divers corps, 
iind the companies of the Imperial Guard. But in spite of this appa- 
rent success, it was not possible to leave the capital without a strong- 
escort. The stage-coach, as before, was stopped within cannon shot of 
its gates. The minister-of-war, on the 10th September, promulgated a 
decree from Irapuato, which gave up all the robbers to French courts- 
martifil, in order, said the decree, to check the frequency of their attacks ; 
and impotent efforts were made to put the Mexican Urban Guai'd in a 
condition to protect the inhabitants from tlie robbers, .,. 

During the remaining months of the fall of 1864,, -aad^ in;;,Tanuarv 
and February of 18G5, the invaders pursued their military advantages. 
Colima, Mazatlan, Morelia, and Oajaca successively fell into the hand.s 
of the enemy. With Oajaca fell the last centre of resistance, organized 
by men more patriotic than skilful. General Mangin immediately took 
the command of Oajaca, where he left Lieutenant-Colonel Carteret 
/Trecourt at the head of a weak garrison. Juchitlan and Tehantepec 
;^id not longe.'scape the unhappy fate of Oajaca. But, strangely enougli 
at the moment when the struggle seemed to reach its end, and it ap- 
peared impossible for the exhausted patriots to keep it up, that courao-e 
which had failed them when they had the means of causing it to effect 
their victory, revived suddenly again ; they seemed at last to perceive 
the kind of combat which could alone bring them success. On the 11th 
April they annihilated the detachment of commander Tydgodt at To- 
camboro, in Michoacan. This detachment of 250 men lost a dozen 
officers, among whom was the son of general Chazal, the minister-of- 
war in Belgium. General Cortiuas returned to that duty he should 
never have abandoned, and bore away with him, on his defection, 750 
men, and threatened Mataraoras. 

In the north General Negrete bore down uj^on Salsilo, the capital of 
Coahuila, and upon Monterey, capital of Nuevo Leon, and seized both 
places successively. This movement appears to have been serious 
enough to force Marshal Bazaine himself to direct his attention to San 
Luis. The imperialists did certainly take great revenge, at different 
times, for this partial defeat. Colonel De Potier dispersed the repub- 
licans, vanquishers of Commander Tydgodt, and two columns directed 
themselves towards the places captured by Negrete. s 

On the 25th of March, the expedition which was so long planned 
against Sonora, that golden lure whose deceitful mirage had been 



16 M g X I C O , A N D ¥ H E 

disastrous to nibrie than one adventurer; before Louis Napoleon himself,, 
began to be put into execution. A division of the Pacific squadron, 
caraposed of the Lucifer, the Assas, the Cordeliere, and the Pallas, 
started from Mazatlan and landed Colonel Garnier's troops on the 29th 
at Guaymas, which troops entered the city without resistance. The 
ganisou, 1,100 men strong, disappeared and escaped in spite of all the 
attempts made by reconnoitering parties to discover it. 

At the same time, General Mangin penetrated into the Chiapas 
territory and seized Tobasco, the capital of the state bearing the same 
name. Juarez was in Chihualiua in communication with California, 
Avhere, by the intervention of Racido Vega, he succeeded in negotiating 
for the purchase of 21,000 guns, two rifled batteries, and three millions 
of cartridges, Avhich Mr. Seward thought it his duty to seize, at the 
request of Louis Napoleon's minister. 

It clearly results, from a general view of the Avhole situation, and 
from the report of the French Commander-in-Chief, in spite of his de- 
sire to prove the contrary, that the situation had becMne less favorable 
than it was in the month of February; that the insurrection, like the 
wave which unceasingly eflfaces the track of the vessel, without, how- 
ever, opposing its progress, had reunited behind the French army; that 
Monterey was no longer in the possession of the French, but in that of 
Negi'ete, who, according to the admission of Marshal Bazaine himself^ 
effected his " retreat " in good order, as well as every other movement 
he saw fit to make. 

Since these events, no important military action has broken the mo- 
notony of the coming and going of imperial troops, who alternately 
occupy and quit the Northern provinces. The Mexican people under- 
stand that against the French military organization there is no struggle 
possible, save through scattered forces, aided by time and space. They 
aim to strike terror to the hearts of the guilty, and not allow those 
who came from Europe to compliment crime, to return there bearing 
its thanks. Let them continue to make war in this manner; let them 
avoid all important engagements, and, like the gad fly, Avhich ends by 
driving the bull mad and overcoming it, they will annihilate, little by 
little, the military colossus which they cannot attack in front. I need no 
better proof of this than Maximilian s insane proclamation against de- 
fenceless prisoners, and their execution by Dupin, Marquez, Mendez 
and others, m contrast with the generosity of Juarez to the Belgian 
prisoners. 

From terror to folly the step is short, and it is taken ; from folly to 
ruin the step is still less. There is no Avorse enemy than one whose 
I presence is unceasingly felt, and Avho is, nevertheless, invisible. 
(I And now I leave it to a Frenchman, Monsieur Clement Duvernois, 
(Avho passed eight months in Mexico, upon a mission to Maximilian, in 
order to study the situation), to say what he thinks of the security es- 
tablished by the Imperial government, and of the intei'est that French 
subjects, in AA^hose name the intervention has taken place, may hope for 
in return. ! . i 

The foUoAving extract is from lM'F'f'^sse,'ti^'FAf^ paper. It is in reply 
to La France. Louis Napoleon's private organ, Which is directed by 
Senator Laguerouniere. 



8 O L I D A K I T Y OK N A T I O K S . 1 / 

Let US examine the interest of the expatriated. 

" We went to Mexico," says La France, "to uphold the reclama- 
'tions of our natives." Let La Finance then tell us the present state of 
these reclamations ; let it tell us the total of the reclamations, of the 
reductions submitted to, and the sums now received. The amount of 
the reclamation will show that with a small part of the expenses of the 
intervention there would have been enough to \:>ny all the indemnifica- 
tions, which justifies us in repeating that the sacrifices accomplished 
are not in proportion Avith the proposed end, if, as La France persists 
in believing, the expedition had no other aim than the defence of recla- 
mations. The reduction that these reclamations have been subjected 
to will still further diminish the importance of the result sought. As 
for the figure of the sums actually received, we are not acquainted 
with it. 

Let us speak of the security of persons after having spoken of their 
interests. 

" The Mexican govei'nment," says La France, '' has been reproached 
with the assassination of several Frenchmen by the bands in the 
country, or robbers in the streets of Mexico. La France mentions, in 
efiect, eiffht Frenchmen, as having been assassinated. 

This is doubtless deplorable, but Avhat must be reasonably expected 
of a government ? It may be asked to guarantee to strangers the 
same security that it grants to its own natives, neither more nor less. 
What security is possible in Mexico ? Are there no more banditti in 
Mexico? Are there no more stage-coaches stopped, no haciendas 
plundered, no men assassinated? We read this horrible narrative but 
yesterday in the Opinion Nationals : 

"A very distressing fact will serve us as a proof among many iso- 
lated cases. A few days ago, as I have said, I was returning from 
Mexico to Vera Cruz. Although the French papers, which I have 
been reading for five months past, have more than once attested that 
the roads were perfectly safe, I had an opportunity of convincing 
myself that such was not the case, and that even the military convoys 
require to be very strongly escorted. Bnt this will show you the per- 
sistency with which a part of the population continue to struggle by 
every means against our intervention, which it is not willing to com- 
prehend. 

" On the railroad track which we had been following for some time, 
we saw traces of recent repairs. The evening before a tragedy had 
occurred there. A passenger train had left Mexico bringing some 
troops and officers, beside other passengers. When the train arrived 
where we saw the repairs, the rails were found to be missing. Then 
an armed baud rushed upon the disordered train. Nothing was stolen, 
nothing plundered ; the passengers were not ill-treated, but all who 
wore the French uniform were massacred without mercy." 

Admittmg that the train attached had contained eight American 
citizens, that, in the confusion, these eight citizens had been killed, 
would the United States, for that reason, have a right to accuse Max- 
imilian and declare war upon him? 

And if Maximilian, aided by a loan of 340 millions, having at his 
service a Belgian and Austrian corps, sustained by a number of French 
soldiers, whose heroic conduct and unalterable constancy are above all 



18 M E X I C O , A K D T n J-D 

pi-aise, if, we repeat, Maximilian, placed in such circumstances, is not 
in a state to prevent the stopping of a train at the gates of Vera Cruz, 
and the daily stopping of coaches upon the principal Mexican roads, 
how can Juarez, left to himself, scarcely yet established, be responsible 
for deeds committed by the clerical bands who hold the country? 

What would Monsieur Clement .Duvernois have said had he been 
aware that, at a few miles from the capital, Maximilian was not able to 
secure the safe return to Europe of his father-in-law's envoys"? 

The Guektlla Attack on the Belgian Embassy — Mexico, March 8, 
166,. — The Belgian embassy took leave ot their Majesties last Satui-day, 
and left yesterday by diligence for Vera Cruz, in order to take passage 
in the North American packet of the 8th inst. Unfortunately, before 
the diligence had arrived at Rio Frio, it Avas stopped by a band of 
brigands. The members of the Belgian mission, who were accom- 
panied by three or four soldiers within and outside the vehicle, took 
immediate steps to defend themselves, whereupon the brigands- 
skedaddled with precipitate haste, but not before they had fired one 
volley, by which Captain D'Huart and General Foury and two other 
persons were killed. 

The same evening notice of the occurrence was received in Mexico 
city, and his Majesty, the Emperor, set out with a French escort for 
Rio Frio. 

Yesterday morning at 8 o'clock, according to previous announce- 
ment, the funeral services for the soul of Baron D'Huart were per- 
formed in the Church of St. Hyeronimus. A detachment of Belgian 
infantry formed guard inside the church, and the band of their regi- 
ment executed some splendid funeral music in one of the side aisles, 
close to the vestry. Their Majesties the Emperor and Empress as- 
sisted at the sad ceremonies, as also the Minister for Foreign Affairs, 
the President of the Academy, Don Eernando Ramirez, some few 
persons belonging to the court and government, the- personiiel of the 
Belgian Legation, and a great number of French, Austrian, and Bel- 
gian generals and ofiicials. The ceremonies corammenced at half-past 
eight. 

•' What is certain, is that during the long siege of Puebla, the gov- 
ernment of Juarez has, with a firmness which should not be forgotten, 
been able to protect the lives of our natives, inhabiting the capital^ 
a'^'ainst the intoxicated band Avho threatened to massacre them. 

Thus the griefs brought up against Juarez might be brought against 
any government in Mexico, inchiding the present one. 

But suppose that Juarez had decided by decree that in all the colo- 
nists from eighteen to thirty-five were liable to be called to military 
service, and that at the same time he had refused to grant them the 
rights of citizens, then there would have been an outcry of violence 
and wrong. 

Is not this, however, v/hat Maximilian has done? 
What then would really be the immense advantages that our natives 
x'esident in Mexico, will have reaped from the intervention? The pay- 
ment of the indemnifications, but reduced. La France will tell us, 
the security of individuals. The Opinion Rationale will reply to that 
question. So that at the end of the account, after all the sacrifices 



S O JL 1 r> A K 1 T y O K NATIONS. 19 

accomplished, no other benefit can be seen except conscription, the 
benefit of a foreign country. 

And now, let persons aslc themselves what will be the situation of 
Frenchmen after the departure of our soldiers; let them ask themselves 
if our expedition is of a nature to increase the populai'ity of our natives, 
and it may be said then exactly in what manner the interest of the 
■French residents in Mexico Avill have been served by the intervention. 
'•^J ■ Clejiekt Duvebnois. 

"WouL;l the reader form an idea of the horrors committed upon 
points of territory more distant from the capital, let him cast his eyes 
upon tlie following- extract from the San Fi-ancisco Bulletin : 

"When I arrived, in March, 18G5, at MazMtlan, I found only that 
city, in the whole State of Sinaloa, in the liands of the French. All 
west of that State was in the hands of guerillas. In order to 
go into the interior I was obliged to smuggle myself, accompanied by 
two friends, during the night, from Mazatlan, and as soon as I 
passed through into the lines of the republicans -we were all captured, 
and brought before General Kamen Corona. As soon as that gentle- 
man got sight of our American 2:)assports we were set at liberty ; he 
wished us farewell, and promised in no way to molest us in the future. 
We passed the two monlhs of March and April in ])erfect peace, but in 
May the campaign was opened, and the French-Mexican general 
brought his hordes from Tepic. 

LiBEKAT. Magnaxijiity — In order to illustrate the contrast between 
the conduct of the Liberals and the French-Mexican commanders, I 
shall relate a little occurrence which happened a month before my 
arrival at Altaic, a small port in the State of Sinaloa. From this little 
port one hundred Fi-ench-Africans sailed, accompanied by a few sailor^ 
from a French man-of-war, and commanded by a ship's captain, and 
marched into the interior, in order to capture the seat of government 
of the State, the City of Cullacan. But not far from Altetus the com- 
mander of the Liberal forces received them, and with about one hun- 
dred men attacked them in the almost imj^assible mountain j'oads so 
impetuously, that after about forty of the French had been killed, the 
balance, about seventy, had to surrender at discretion. Colonel Rube, 
who was well aware what would have been his late if he had been cap- 
tured and the French had been the captors, treated the vanquished 
with the greatest attention, divided everything lie had with them, gave 
them horses in order to iacilitate the toilsome traveling, and sent them 
to Chihuahua as prisoners of \\2ix. 

Vandatjsai of the French. — At the time the above affair ended so 
disgracefully for the Frencli, another column of four hundred started 
from Mazatlan in a southerly direction, via Presidio, to the Villa de 
San Libertian Messillas, Rosario, and from there back to Mazatlan. 
That expedition resembled rather the desolating march of the Goths 
and Vandals than that of a civihzed array. In Presidio, without the 
necessity of firing a single shot, the greater part of the houses of one 
class were burned down, while the other class were saved by having 
above them the American and English flag. In San Libertian the 
Liberal troops, under General Corona, made some resistance, and when 
they were conquered and compelled to retire, the flourishing little vil- 
lage was reduced to ashes. Two thousand people were driven into the 



^0 MEXICO. A N P T H K 

inountains without food or shelter, and every cow, calf, hog, or chicken 
which could not be taken along was killed ; even the dogs were not 
spared. More than four thousand people live in the State of Sinaloa 
to-day like wild cattle in the woods, without any other food than half- 
ripe fruits, which grow wild in the woods ; the corn-fields have been 
destroyed, the fences torn down, and many poor women and children 
have peii-hed through misery in the woods. 

[Would not one think it was Sherman marching through the South ■?] 

But what the author of these hnes should have said is that these 
four hundred men had nothing in common with the French army, ex- 
cept their cause. They vvei-e imperialistic Mexicans and banditti, under 
Cajitain Dupin's orders. They were French by birth, it is true, to the 
shame of France, but in no manner belonging to the French army. 

In the first week of May last, the Imperial General Lozado moved 
from Tepic with one thousand five hundred men, via San Jago to the 
State of Jalisco. He found the first resistance near Acaponeta, vvhere 
Pi-efecto Guzina, with his Indians, tried to hinder him in his advance. 
But resistance was in vain. When Lozado arrived at Acaponeta he 
gave the sign for pillage. The most abominable acts were committed 
by a dissolute soldate-ika, the cruelty of which cannot be conceived by 
the widest imagination. I do not intend to go into specialties of the 
invasion of Mexico, and am, therefore,* obliged to pass over details of 
extreme cruelties. I will only remark that Acaponeta was destroyed, 
burned down, and its inhabitants driven into the mountains, without 
food or shelter, glad to have escaped with their lives. From Acapene- 
ta the destroying hordes moved to Escuinape, where the same spectacle 
was enacted, only in a more cruel and terrible manner : because here 
some earnest resistance was made, and the little village, with its three 
thousand inhabitants, has been known as the seat of Democratic prin- 
ciples. On the 10th of May Lozado arrived at Rosario. Here he 
met with a column of the French, and both united, whipped Corona 
near Matalan, took this village, as also Cocotota, destroyed tlie villages, 
farm houses, fences, and everything, while the inhabitants who had not 
been cut down, and had not escaped, were brought as captives to 
Rosario. 

In Rosario began now a reign of terror and death. After the defeat 
of Corona, at Mazatlan, he escaped with some hundred men into the 
mountains. Lozado issued a proclamation promising an amnesty to all 
who should voluntarily lay down their arms and take the oath of allegi- 
ance to the Empire. Many Mexicans, who considered all further 
resistance useless, and who were without any means whatever to con- 
tinue the war, appeared at Rosario, counting upon the conditions of the 
proclamation, to lay down their arms and take the oath for the Empire 
They came with honest inientions. I have known and spoken with 
many of them. All were agreed if they would be suffered to till their 
soil, and follow their occupations in peace, they would gladly accom- 
modate themselves to the new order of things, and give up all furthe]' 
resistance. 

But we shall see how Lozado kept his written proclamation. To 
illustrate what happened, I will give here a single instance out of fifty 
similar ones ; Dr. Francisco Rimienta never carried any arms himself, 
but out of old friendship for Corona, could not refuse to officiate as his 



S O M D A R 1 T r <J V NATIONS. 21 

private secretary. He himself told me of his having spoken to Corona, 
and that he had explained to him the uselessness of any further resist- 
ance. Besides, he said, he had a wife with four little children, who 
Avonld starve without his taking care of them, and, therefore, he had 
come to take advantage of the proclamation. He Avas brought before 
Lozado, who handed to him his jDapers of pardon and release. In the 
evening he left Rosario in order to stay at Chametie with his .family. 
The same night a creature of Lozado, by the name of Mauricio Cas- 
taneda, Avent to Dr. Ramienta, who Avas torn from the side of his Avife, 
in spite of the prayers and cries of four httle children, and shot. This 
tiger remained till morning Avith his victim, and then threatened with 
sure death anybody Avho should dare to bury the corpse, leaving, in 
order to commit similar crimes at some other place. 

I repeat again, all these things happened before ray own eyes. On- 
the night of June 1st last, I counted fourteen victims Avho Avere led 
past my Avindow to be brought to the Campo Santo, (cemetery) to be 
shot and their corpses to be throAvn upon the road. In and around 
Rosario, at the report of a rifle, the hogs came running as a signal for 
getting hold of a corpse. I have seen a man by the name ot Perez 
well in the eveniug, and the following day lying before my door half 
devoured by the hogs ; and a woiiian, under seal of secrecy, has 
told me that she had seen how Perez Avas torn by four soldiers from hit* 
house, stabbed Avith their bayonets and afterwards throAvn into the 
street. On the 18th of June, twenty-two Liberals, i;nder the leader- 
ship of Correa, Avere surrounded by a French party, and though the 
Mexicans laid down their arms and made no attempt to runaAvay, they 
Avere all stabbed Avith bayonets and given over to the hogs. When it 
is stated that these tAventy-two men were on the Avay to Rosario to 
take advantage of the ^jroclamation of amnesty, the deed appears the 
more horrible. 

At that time I had to make a trip from Mazatlan to Durango. This 
section Avas formevly one of the most prosperous in Mexico, and the 
Avhole way Avas lined Avith habitations and fences. But great God ! 
Avhat a sight it presented in the month of July I Heaps of ashes in- 
stead of houses ; skeletons of men and beasts around the ashes ; Aveed* 
and pai'asitical plants covered the open fields ; no fence, no root, no 
man. From San Marcus to Sarago^sa and Messates, one single desert, 
one cemetery. More than 5,000 people iised to live in these districts, 
and to-day not a single soul is to be found — all driven away from their 
habitations, and their fields destroyed and Avasted. Heaven knows 
what has become of all those jseople, but I saw some of them in the 
woods, Avho tell heart-breaking stories of their suflerings. 

Returning to Mazatlan, I had an opportunity to move in every class 
of society. My linguistic abilities and my social position afibrded me 
a chance to be on a confidential footing Avith many of the best people. ' 
I have often taken my breakfast Avith French oificers, Avho openly and 
sincerely confessed their regret at the unnatural state of the country, 
and assured me they should consider themselves very happy at being 
recalled from Mexico ; not because these gentlemen were afraid, but 
because they had the moral conviction that they would never be able to 
appease the country. I frequented the best families, and remarked 
with astonishment that no French olficer was admitted into respectable 



22 MEXICO, A jS' 1) T U M 

society. I found the antipathy against the Frencli ninongsttiU classes, 
but with the fiiir sex the fe.eUng and the hatred were the most bitter. 
The nickname Ckinako, wiiich the French call the Mexicans, is accepted 
with, pride by the latter; but woe to the Frenchman who is found 
alone upon an isolated road. 

I would mention the names of five of the largest houses among the 
merchants, if I did not fear to injure them, which complain bitterly of 
the inactivity of the French, of the exortion of the imperial officers, 
and other kinds of oppression. I could mention hundreds of the best 
men in Mexico who acknowledge the Imperial government, but who 
are longing for the intervention of the United States, even with the 
l':>93 of independence. 

What I have told is the result of ten months' close obseiwation. In 
conclusion I have to remark that I started last year for Mexico, because 
I believed in aregeneratien of that country, through the French ; that 
I had many a tournament with my friends at the time, because I was a 
zealous partizau of the Napoleonic politics. I have returned thoroughly 
cured " 

Is it astonishing that such should be the case ? Is it surprising that 
a country of which the stranger occupies the territoiy, overthrows the 
laws, massacres the inhabitants and what is worse to a Mexican, adds 
insult to injury, should be in a state of fierce fermentation which 
leaves no room for the security of persons or interests. 

What the author of the following lines says is true with regard to 
the French contempt of the Mexicans. The proprietor of large es- 
tates rich, and possessing the faults of the Spanish grandee, very rarely 
his virtues, resents very bitterly the treatment of the Gallic conqueror. 
The French superior in character, look upon the whole Mexican nation 
with tlie most undisguised contem])t ; and what makes it worse, they 
take advantage of every opportunity to show it. I have noticed Avith 
astonishment now inveterate that contempt is Avith the conquerors; 
how indiscreetly they show it, and how deeply it is felt by all classes 
of the Mexican people. He who knows the Mexicans will understand 
how they will pardon a crime, but never an insult. 

Whoevej* knows the character of the French military, know.s tiiat 
thy are kind and generous in their acts, but mocking, insulting, con- 
temptuous in their words. They invariably take the refined civilzation 
of their own country for the criterion of their judgments, and treat 
with scorn whatever has not their elegance. The sight of the impov- 
ished officers of Mexico Avould naturally create a smile, then give rise 
to a sarcasm from their lips. Marshall Forey has even dared to echo 
such Avords in the open Senate. 

I remember having passed through similar circumstances myself — 
I have laughed at the coarse customs and uncivilized habits of the 
Arabs, and in the Crimea Avas sickened and disgusted Avith the savag- 
ery of certain officers of the south-east of Russia, * I ha\'e often 
jested upon many such things, though cert;iinly Avithout spite. But at 
a later day, I saw tliat the coai sely-clad man, Avith i-ough manners and 
words, Avho leaves his family and sets aside his interest!--, to defend his 
country is much more worthy of esteem and respect tlian the young 
gentlemen educated for correct and elegant murder and trained to Avear 
their omhroidered uniforms Avith taste in aj>art.ments glittering Avith 



S O L I D A K I T T OF NATIONS. 23 

light. My experience tells what the French officers have probably 
done, and my heart what the Mexicans must certainly have suffered. 

Now let it be seen from the following document and article borrow- 
■«dfrom Li Pre>-'^e, and the Opinion Nutioaale of Paris, on which side is 
civilization and on v/hlch is barbarity. 

"The Mexican Banditti." — At the moment when the dissenters 
of Mexico are accused of being simply banditti, at the moment when we 
are surprised at seeing the Americans indignant at the summary shooting 
done by our Mexican auxiliaries, it is proper to investigate how these 
summary executions are judged of by the Belgian officer)? and soldiers 
in the Mexican service. 

Letter to Eiipeeor MAXI^^LIAN. 

■■'■ SlllE, 

We have learned with horror and consternation the act 
committed by Colonel Mendez, who, in violation of every law of hu- 
manity and every law of war, has put to death a certain number of 
officers of the liberal army, whom he had made prisoners. In all civil- 
ized countries, officers respect [)risoners of war. The Liberal 
army — to which you even refuse to give the name of army — itself pro- 
fesses a greater respect for these laws tlian do the chiefs of your forces, 
for, we who are prisoners, are respected by all from the general to the 
common soldier. 

'' If loe did not find ourselves in ihc hands of troops sincere/)/ Iberal, 
tk<', act of Colonal Mtnxdez ivndd call forth a bloody retaliation ; and we 
B 'Jgiaus, who have come to Mexico solely with a view to acting as a 
guard of honor to our princess, bid whomy ni have forced tofifit against 
principles id&ntwal icith our oion, might have expiated by our bljod the 
crime of a man ivho is a traitor tn his own country. 

" We hope, sire, that the barbarous act of Colonel Mendez will not 
remain unpunished, and (hat you will have the kindness to give or- 
ders that the laws between nations shall be observed. We energetically 
protest against this nameless act. 

" Bruer, Guyot, Flachat, Van Hollenbeck and two hundred 
others." 

The following is the petition addressed to the Belgian Parlia- 
ment. 

•'To the Representatives of the Belgian Nation. 
Gentlemen, 

The Mexican question has ireqnently been discussed 
by you, but principally as to the legality or illegality of recruiting for 
the Belgian Legion. At the present day, an event of the greatest 
gravity obliges us to call your attention anew to this question. The 
lives of two hundred Belgian prisoners are at stake. 

" Resuming the question a little furtlier on, we recall the fact that 
we were exclusively to perform the service of guard of honor to a 
Belgian princess. But the Emperor, caring nothing foi- the 
special service for which the Legion had been enrolled, nor for the 
neutrality of the Belgian Legion, ordered us to enter upon a campaign, 
and urged on by the warhke ardour which belongs to Belgian sol- 
diers, we obeyed and resolutely marched at the head of the ranks. 

"Although Ave have had success, we have also, unfortunately, ex- 
perienced reverses, and two hundred of our number have been made 



24 M K X I C O 5 A N I> T H E 

prisoners. Having no regard for our peculiar situation, tlie Emperor- 
has recently published a decree, the consequences of which may be ter- 
rible. This decree announces to the republicans that, after the 15th 
of November, all prisoners taken with arms in their hands will be- 
shot. 

"At the beginning of this month an Imperialist colonel, named 
Mendez — an ex-Republican, who had sold himself to the empire — a- 
man who had nought but hate for the Belgians, made a large number 
of prisoners in the Republican army, among whom were two generals 
and several superior officers. He has caused them to be shot, in viola- 
tion of military laws, without even waiting till the delay fixed by the 
decree should have expired. He said after the execution, to those 
who remonstrated with him as to the enormity of this act : ' Well, 
let them revenge themselves upon the Belgians.' All the other 
(French) prisoners are, in effect, exchanged. 

"We have expected that all the Belgian prisoners would be put to 
death; but the Mexican Republic, great and generous as all free 
nations are, has preferred to do nothing till it should learn what course 
of conduct the administration of the empire Avill pursue with regard 
to Colonel Mendez, 

" Gentlemen, it is your place to interfere. The Belgian Legion has 
long desired to return to its native country ; it desires to take no 
further part in this unjust war, and Avill no longer serve an empire 
where such acts are permitted. 

"As representatives of the nation, you are called upon to act when- 
ever the Belgian name is brought forward. It is not a question of 
party here, but a question of nationality. 

" Reioresentatives of Belgium, remember our device: 'Union and 
Strength.* We address ourselves to you in the name of Belgium, 
whose honest confidence is being imposed upon. It is your place to 
prevent the sacrifice of Belgian blood. In the name of the country, 
accomplish your duty I 

"In the name of all the Belgians made prisoners by the Repub- 

' ' lican army. Breuer. 

***** 

" It results from this act of accusation that the Mexican dissenters 
(whom we call banditti) treat their prisoners in conformity to the laws 
of war, while the Mexicans who have rallied around the empire shoot 
the prisoners they make, at the risk of compromising the lives of two 
hundred Belgians exposed to a bloody retaliation. 

" Let all judge now. 

Clement Duvernois. 



CHAPTER III. 

APPEARANCES AND REAUTY. 



We must now go for enough back in the history of the past to find 
the first diplomatic trace of the thought of intervention in Mexico. It 
originated in Spain. That power has not yet lost the hope of reen- 
tering into possession of its American colonies. It hoped, by means 



SOLIDARITY OF NATIONS. 25 

of European intervention, to reestablish a throne in Mexico and cause- 
it to be occupied by a prince of the house of Bourbon. 

On the 24th of November, 1858, Mr. Mon, then Spanish ambassador 
to France, represented to Count Walewski, "the necessity of estab- 
Ushing a sti'ong power and government in these countries." 

On the 3d of January, 1859, Mr. Mon Avrote to Mr. Calderon Col- 
lantes, minister of foreign aiFairs in Spain: 

" My idea, which I have not been so fortunate as to enable your Ex- 
cellency to understand, reduced itself to examining whether it would 
be possible to torm a government in Mexico, which, supported at the 
outset by the three powers, would end by having no need of any. 

"Will your Excellency indicate to me, if possible, the form, as well 
as the means, which appear to you suitable to be made use of under 
such circumstances. Count Walewski and myself have left the ques- 
tion at this point, in order to be able to resume it when we think lit." 

Seven days later Mr. Calderon Collantes replied that he shared Mr. 
Mon's views, but that, according to him, "moral and purely diplomatic 
means Avere sufficient." 

If there could still remain any doubt as to the initiative of Spain in 
this affair, of its powei-ful efforts and the project long pi-emeditated 
between herself and France, of overthrowing tlie republican govern- 
ment in Mexico, the following dispatch, from Mr. Calderon Collantes 
to Mr. Mon, dated 18th of April, 1830, would remove them: 

" Your Excellency is aware of the attempt made several times by 
His M.ijest}'s government with regard to those of England and 
Fi-ance, witli a view to adopting a measure to put an end to the an- 
archy which exhausts the Mexicau Republic. 

"Some time ago, I had with Mr. Barrot (French ambassador to this 
court) a conference upon this serious afiair. Mr. Barrot transmitted 
my indications to the Emperor's minister of foreign affairs, and, a few 
days ago, he read me an extract from one of his dispatches, in which 
it is shown that the governments of France and England are now dis- 
posed to combine theh efforts in order to obtain the establishment of a 
government in Mexico Avhich will be recognized by the entire nation, 
and will put an end to the sad situation in which this unhappy republic 
has found itself for so many years past. 

"Mr. Thouvenal thinks that the best means would be to propose the- 
convocation of a Constituent Assembly, which should determine the 
form of government in a stable and definite manner, and solve all the 
pending questions, whatever their nature and importance." 

" His majesty's will is, then, that Your Excellency should have an. 
interview with Mr. Thouvenel, with a view to seeking the means for 
the three respective powers, of intervening in the disorder of the 
Mexican republic. The government of His Majesty thinks that the 
mere news of this resolution and the first measures taken to bring it 
to a good end will suffice to give courage to honorable persons ia 
Mexico, and predispose minds to labor in favor of the establishment 
of a government which,'without limiting the exercise of legitraate rights 
or the guarantee which they have in civilized countries, will for ever 
enchain that spirit of i-ebellion which has caused so much damage in 
this unfortunate country." 



26 H E X I C O , A. N » T H E 

As is clear, the spirit had progressed. Moral and dijDolmatic m^rnvs 
were no longer talked of, the overthrow of the government of Juarez 
and the placing a raonarchial government in his stead are as clearly- 
traced as dipolmatic language demands. "A strong and durable 
power," on the 24th of November, 1858 ; on the 3d of January. 
1859, " a new government supported at the outset by three raonarchi- 
al powers," which certainly cannot be a republican government, and 
finally on the 18th of April, 1860, "the overthrow of the Mexican 
Republic will give courage to honorable persons in Mexico, and pre- 
disposed minds to work in tavor of the establishment of a govern- 
ment « * * * * which will forever enchain the spirit of rebel- 
lion, &c." Every one knows that this diplomatic language means. 
'The establishment of a monarchy could not be more clearly indicated. 

It appears to result from the examination of this correspondence that 
France abdicated its traditional policy of inatiative ia this affair and 
that it suffers itself to glide quietly along the slope of Spanish 
policy. 

Was this consciously or involuntary ? that would be very difficult to- 
decide and I leave each one to form his personal opinion upon the 
basis of facts as they are about to be demonstrated. 

Thanks to the favorable reception given to Spanish propositions by 
France and England, Calderon Collantes thought fit to risk a project 
of constitution for the reorganization ot Mexico which he sent to Paris 
and to London on the 24:th of May, 1860. This was going ;to work 
too fast, England stopped him forthwith. That power protestant 
above all things, had no intention of being used as a cats paw by the 
^catholic powers. 

Mr. Jsturitz, minister of Spain to London, wrote on the 27th of 
April, 1860, to Mr. Calderon Collantes: 

"In eflect, on the 27th of April, 1860, Lord John Russell, warned 
as to the cooperation that England might give, replied laconically to 
Mf. Isturitz that he did not repel it, provided that it was " thoroughly 
understood that the use of force should not enter into the execution " 
of these projects. In a second interview, Mr. Isturitz insists, in order 
to obtain a more explicit answer from Lord John Russell : the Secre- 
tary of State explains that on its j^art " England will exact the protect- 
ion of the protesLant faith" "to which I replied," adds Mr. Isturitz, 
" tliat in that case, England must not rely upon the cooperation of 
Spain." 

The most curious part of all this intrigue is the sudden reviling of 
Louis Napoleon. He who had not a single obiection to make to the 
Spanish propositions, who had seen them augment and develop with 
satisfaction, immediatly brought them back to the starting point by 
the passage of the following despatch which Mr. Barrot, minister of 
France to Madrid M^as charged to j_transmit to Mr. Colderon in the 
name of his government. 

"It is besides understood," says this dispatch, "that the measures 
in question shall have an entirely friendly character and that they shall 
e.Kclude the idea of recourse to any means of material coercion." 

Louis Napoleon was afraid of England and his love for the suprem- 
acy of the Latin race did not go so tar as to lead him to engage him- 
self in an adventure in which lie misrht liave found himself caught 



3 {) 1. I l> A R I T Y OF N A T I O H S . 27 

between England and the United States, vAt\i poor Spain foi* an ally. 
Thus ended this first period of the Mexican question. Spanish intri- 
gue, English prudence, French reluctance, sums it up. It was to be 
set aside till the 1st of September, 1861. 



CHAPTEli IV 



AX^PEAKANCES VS. KEALITmS. 



In the time of Miramon, of the very man whose advice was followed 
■in 18G2 and 1863, on the 16th of March, 1860, the government had 
begun to loudly set forth its complaints against a country, the situation 
of which could not be more unfortunate. In April Mr. Paclieco had 
renewed them, by a mise en dnncure to be acted upon. But in order to 
comprehend what is about to follow, it is necessary to know that Spain, 
in no wise discom-aged by England's i-efusal, and that of France, to aid 
licr enterprise, had pursued its execution alone and directly, through 
the intervention of the Captain-General of the island of Cuba. A year 
kter, when she was ready to act, she again put the Mexican question 
upon the diplomatic carpet. 

Mr. Mon, alluding to the approaching secession of the South, wrote 
to Calderon CoUantes : 

" The Government cannot conceal that this may be an occasion for 
reviving past souvenirs, and placing upon the throne of Mexico a 
prinCe of the Bourbon blood, more or less intimately united to this 
house.'' 

This is the last word of the Spanish political thought — that which 
was destined to remove all scruples from Louis Napoleon's mind, and 
to bring about the retreat of Spain at the outset cf hostilities. 

On the 6th of September, 1861, Mr. Mon received orders to an- 
nounce to Mr. Tbouvenal that a Spanish fleet Avas ready to set sail to 
operate against Mexico, and the Captain-General of the island of Cuba 
received orders to that effect. It was difficult, it must be confessed, to 
act with more resolution and skill ; and, if her strength had been equal 
to her good will, Spain, without doubt, would have brought her plan to 
a good issue. Napoleon, terrified at the thought of any Bourbon 
restoration Avhatever, even at 3,000 leagues from France, and no less 
enchanted at the prospect of profiting by American complications, to 
weaken the republican form, no longer hesitated. Pie intervened and 
determined England to do the same. A month later, on the 11th of 
October, 1861, Monsieur Tbouvenal wrote to Monsieur de Flahaut in 
London : 

"I have replied to the English ambassador that I was entirely in 
harmony with his government as to one point : that I qdmit, like Lord 
Russell, that the legitimacy of our coercive action with regard to 
Mexico, would only result from our griefs against the government of 
that country, and that those griefs, as well as the means of redressing 



28 MKXICO, ANDTHK 

them and preventing their renewal, could alone, in effect, be the object 
of an ostensible convention." 

It is evident that if there was an osferisible convention for the viilgum 
pecus, there was another for the contracting parties. We shall soon 
see what use Monsieur Billaut, in the name of Napoleon's government,, 
made of the ostensible convention with regard to the vulgum pecus, or 
the legislative assembly, and that made of the real convention by his 
master as regards Mexico. It is good to remember the date of the 
11th of October, 1861, for it clearly proves, when we shall have 
reached the public debate in the French House, that Monsieur Billaut 
either tells a falsehood or was himself a dupe, which latter is not 
credible. 

The dispatch continued thus : 

"But it appeared to me useless to go beyond and interfere in ad- 
vance with the ultimate exercise of a legitimate participation in the 

events of which our operations might be the origin 

It is permissible to suppose, in effect, that if the issue of the American 
crisis consecrated the separation of the North and South, the two 
new confederations would both seek for such compensation as the 
territory of Mexico, given up to social dissolution, would offer to their 
competition. Such an event could not be indifferent to England ; and 
the principal obstacle which might, according to iis, prevent its accom- 
plishment, would be the constituting of a reparative government in 
Mexico, strong enough to check its internal dissolution." 

It is impossible to be more clear, or to say in more moderate and 
choice terms, that everything is hoped from the success of the Rebellion,^ 
and that, in case it did succeed, a good monarch, gloved in iron, would 
know how to bring the Norih and South to terms and prevent both 
from emerging beyond their limits, until, probably, making use of the 
ever-true maxim, div de et impera, it should be judged necessary to the 
development of monarchial institutions, to excite a fresh civil war, a 
new dismemberment and a new weakening of the Great Republic. It 
is the ''balance of power" transported Irom Europe to America. 

Heaven be praised that, thanks to the energy of " our boys" and, 
let us hope, to that of Congress, we shall come out of our trouble safe, 
sound and complete. 

The above dispatch was prior, by twenty days, to the famous ostensi- 
ble convention of the 31st of October, and was sent five months before 
the lying declarations made by Monsieur Billaut to the French Tribune, 
in reply to interpellations of Monsieur Jules Favre. 

Such are the facts in the simplicity of reality. Let us examine the 
appearances the ostensible convention intended lor the vulgar herd. 



CHAPTER V. 

It is on the 18th of April, 1861, that we find the first diplomatic 
trace of a thought of intervention in Mexico, it came from Monsieur 
Dubois de Saligny : 

" In the state of anarchy, one may say of social decomposition, in 



3 O L I D A li I T Y OF NATIONS. 29 

■wTiicTi this unfortunate country finds itself, it is now difficult to forsee 
the turn which events will take. A single thing is clear to rae, the 
imposslb lity of remaining in .txtuqu). 

Everything indicates that we are touching upon a new revolution. — 
In this situation, it appears to me absolutely necessary that we should 
have \ipon the coast of Mexico, a material force sufficient to provide , 
whatever may happen, for the protection of onr interests. 

On the Twelfth of the following June, Monsieur de Saligny returns 
to the same subject with more force, his thought is more clearly 
shown. 

" It only remains for me to add that I have little confidence in the 
new administeration ; that the position of this government appears to 
jne, besides, so precarious, that I more than ever believe in the necess- 
ity of taking precautions without delay and placing ourselves in a way 
to support by force if necessary, the justice of our reclamations." 

Meanwhile, the question is only of a reclamation a main arme'e, in 
conformity with international right when it is limited to redressing the 
wrongs of Avhich one nation has cause to complain with regard to 
that of another. 

On the 27th of July, 18G1, the French minister officially announces 
to his government that in accordance with Mi-. Charles Wyke, the 
English minister, he has broken off the diplomatic relations with the 
government of Juarez. 

Mr. Thouvenel approves of his conduct and on the 5th of Septem- 
ber, the evening of the day on which Mr. Mon officially notified him 
of the sending out of a Spanish fleet to operate against Mexico, the 
French minister thus sums up Monsieur de Saligny's instructions. 

"• The Emperor's government entirely approves of your conduct 
and protests in the most f.rir.al manner against that oft!ie government 
of Juarez * * * * * * It is important that the latter govern- 
ment should not ignore the impression of the Emperor's government 
and that he should be edified as to what we exact of him. You are 
then to declai-e to him that the suspension of the payment of foreign 
conventions, let it be covered with whatever pretext it may, is, on our 
part, the object of the most lively disapprobation, and that we demand 
the immediate repeal of the law of the 17th of July, last « « * -* 
You will add that we claim the establishment of commissiaries in the 
parts of Vera Cruz, card of Tampico, whom we shall point out and 
whose mission Avill be to secure the j^ayment, to the powers who have 
a right to it, of the funds which are to be raised to their profit, in 
execution of foreign conventions, upon the product of the raaritine 
custom houses of Mexico. If the Mexican government refuses to ac- 
cept these conditions, you are called upon, sir, to quit Mexico without 
delay, with all the persons who compose his Majesty's legation." 

Such langu \ge on the part of a colossus like France in unison with 
England and Spain, towards a poor little country like Mexico, is the 
brutal but legal act of the usurer who causes his creditor's furniture to 
be sold by the sheriff, if that crditor is too poor to pay him. To with- 
draw the jurisdiction of its 2>orts from a free country, to keep them 
under foreign sequester and garrison, is one of those acts which are 
equivalent to a declaration of war, for where is the nation however 
low it may have fallen, that will submit to such a humiliation ? 



30 M E X I C O , A N I> T }J E 

The intervention was resolved upon. On the 30th of October, 1861, 
on the eve of the famous ostensible convention, Monsieur Thouvenel 
announces it in these terms to Monsieur Dubois de Saligny : 

'■The Emperor," (si.id Monsieur Thouvenel), has decided that a 
naval division placed under command of Rear Admiral Jurrien de la 
Graviere, shall receive the mission to repair to the Gulf of Mexico to ob- 
tain the satisfaction, which, after a final examination of the situation ap- 
pears to be exacted by regard for om* dignity and for the violence of 
all kinds to which our nation is subjected. The Emperor's govern- 
ment will not act alone. The government of Her Biitisli Majesty and 
that of Her Catholic Majesty propose to unite theii- forces to those 
with v/hich we intend to make this expedition." 

This is the first time that, in a dispatch, Monsieur Thouvenel re- 
veals the existence of a convention between France, Spain and Eng- 
land, which was to be signed on the morrow, the terms of which 
Calderon Collantes discussed with Mr. Mon in a dispatch dated the 
23d, and which was the object of diplomatic correspondence for nearly 
two years, as we have seen. 

On the 21st of October, 1861, between France, England and Spain, 
that odenaibie convention was signed, the first article of which ran 
thus: 

" The commander of the allied forces shall be authorized to accom- 
plish upon the most suitable spots, all other operations 'which shall 
be judged proper for the realization of the aim proposed in the pream- 
ble of the present conventions, and especially to guarantee the security 
of foreign residents. 

Calderon Collantes, touched by scruples as to the interpretation 
which might be given to the words "and especially to guarantee the 
security of foreign residents," asked that they should be suppressed in 
his dispatch of the 23d of October to Mr. Mon. Worthy man! He 
is the same who kept a minister in Paris, who advised him, a month 
and a half before, to profit by the embarrassed position of the United 
States to establish a monaichy in Mexico for the profit of a prince of 
the house of Bourbon, and who, a few days after the 6th of Septem- 
ber, notified the French Government of the sending forth of a Spanish 
fleet for that purpose! 

Article Second is not less ostensibly honest than the first : 

"Article 2. — The high parties contracting agree not to seek for 
themselves, in the use of the coercive measures foreseen by the present 
convention, any acquisition of territory, nor any particular advantage, 
and to exercise, in the internal aifairs of Mexico, no influence of a 
nature to injure the right of the Mexican nation to freely choose and 
constitute the form of its government." 

If clearness and precision ever existed, it is here. The contracting 
powers ostensibly engage to exercise no influence of a nature to injure 
the right of the Mexican nation to freely choose and constitute the 
form of its government. 

To add still further to the solemnity of this declaration, the three 
powers propose to the government of tlie United States to unite with 
them to obtain the redress of common wrongs. Was this offer any 
more sincere than the declaration of France and Spain ? It is per- 
mitted UB to doubt. They knew the government to be engaged in a 



SOLIDARITY OF NATIONS. 31 

civil war, the issue of which, according to them, was to be quite difler- 
erent from what it proved, and the existence of wliich was the point 
d" appui of common intervention. They knew, besides, without there 
being any necessity for Mr. Seward to remind them, tliat our ti'adi- 
tional pohcy was to ally ourselves with no European power, and must 
have comprehended that the moment Avould have been badly chosen 
indeed to depart from this wise policy. They must, above all, have 
imderstood that, however cheap Mr. Seward ctmsihli/ held the Moni-oe 
doctrine, he was not the American nation, and that the American 
nation, to be consistent Vv'ith itself and be able in the future to claim 
the maintaiuence of that doctrine, of vital importance to America and 
her institutions, must abstain from lending a liand in any foreign iuter- 
vention upon this continent. 

This invitation was then purely ironical, and a jest in bad taste, to 
which Mr. Seward nevertheless thought lit to reply seriously; which he 
did hi a dispatch dated from Washington, 4th of December, 1861. 

Let this dispatch be placedbeside another dated from Washington on 
the lith of July, 1862, and addressed to Mr. T. Corwin, our minister 
to Mexico, in which the following j^assage is found : "It is very cer- 
tain that the idea of preparing a thi'one in Mexico, if ever entertjiined, 
was long since discarded." Let it be compared Avith anotlier, Irom the 
same to the same, sent from Washington on June 24, 1862, "Not- 
withstanding the course adopted by the Frencli agents and army in 
Mexico, the government of Frau(ie reassures us that it is their ]jurpose 
to be content with an adjustment of grievances, leaving it exclusively 
to the people of Mexico to determine their own form of government ; 
and in no case to put up any or to maintain any one tliat may come in 
consequence of war ;" and with this dispatch, dated Washingtony 
June 23, and addressed to Hon. J. Perry, our minister in Madrid, in 
which he thus judges the speech of Calderon CoUantes : " No one can 
read it without being satislied that the Spanish Government has acted 
with eminent honor and good faith." 

I might multiply quotations of this nature. I think these three 
suffice. 

It will be easily perceived that the French Government had not 
ceased, from the outset of the Mexican question, to hide its true inten- 
tions under a cover of false assertions, of Avhich Mr. Seward was the 
dupe. This is the lirst time, since the half-barbaric days which pre- 
ceded the revolution of '93, that French diplomacy has stooped to 
rivalling Italian, Spanish and English diplomacy in cunning ai?d 
deceit. 

In the midst of all these extraordinary assertions one fact remains 
patent, avowed, irrefragable, and that interests us to the highest de- 
gree. It is the insufiiciency of our diplomacy. We have no diplo- 
matists — such is the consequence of our system of distribution of diplo- 
matic posts, without regard for personal fitness. To make a devoted 
orator, having the qualities necessary to amass a crowd around the 
hustings in favor of a presidential candidate, an ambassador to Madrid, 
Berlin, Chili, or elsewhere, is an absurdity, the result of which is ap- 
parent here. Mr. Seward was not informed, because he had no diplo- 
matist either at Madrid or Paris. Like credulous children, our agents 
believed what it pleased the foreign ministers to say to them, and Mr. 
Seward did the same. H'^w different from England! 



:32 M E X I C O , A N D X H E 

Meanwhile, Calderon CoUantes addressed his ostensible instructions 
to the Captain-General of the island of Cuba. They are summed up in 
three points : 

First — Personal satisfaction for the dismissal of the Spanish minister. 

Second — The execution of the treaty signed at Pans between Mon 
and Almonte. 

Third — The indemnification stipulated. 

Nothing in all this reveals the raonarchial thouglit, if not the absurd- 
ity of such reclamations, equivalent to an appeal to brutal force with all 
its political consequences. How could it be reasonably supposed that 
Juarez would submit to Almonte, a man politically condemned ? 

Monsieur Thouvenel had also sent his dispatches to Admiral Jurien 
de la Graviere, on the 11th of November, 1861. 

" When the combined forces of the three powers, shall have arrived 
upon the eastern shore of Mexico, you will, as I have said, claim the 
delivery into your hand^, of the ports of that shore. After taking this 
step, two alternatives may present themselves : either your summons 
will be resisted, and then your remaining course will be to concert, 
without delay, with the commanders of the allied forces, for the cap- 
ture of these ports by force ; or the local authorities wall renounce 
opposing a material resistance, but the Maxican government will refuse 
to enter into relations with you." 

" Renewing a tactic employed by one of his predecessors in the 
war with the United States, Juarez will, if necessary retire into the 
interior of the country. The allied jjowers could not suffer themselves 
to be held in check by such an expedient. The intent of our dignity 
^nd a consideration for the circum:!itances of the climate on the east- 
ern shore, unite to exact a prompt and decsive result * * * * 
The Emperor's government admit that, either to reach the Mexican 
government, or to render more efficacious the coercion exercised upon 
it by the taking jjossession of its ports, you will find yourself in the 
necessity of combining a march into the interior of the country which 
would, if necessary, lead the allied forces to Mexico itself 

"The allied powers only profess, I have told you, the aim indicated 
in the Convention , they interdict themselves from intervening in the 
internal affairs of the country, and especially from exercising any pres- 
sure upon the Avill of the people in the choice of" their government. — 
There are, however, certain circumstances which our foresight is called 
upon to provide for and which we have been called upon to examine. 
It might happen that the presence of the allied forces upon the territo- 
ry of Mexico would determine the healthy part of tlie population, 
tired of anarchy, eager for order and i-epose, to make an effort to con- 
stitute a government in the country, offering the guarantees of 
strength and stability which have failed to exist in all those which 
have succeeded each other since the emancipation. The allied powers 
have a common interest, a manifest interest, in seeing 3Iexico emerge 
from the state of social dissolution in which it is plunged, which par- 
alyses all development of its prosperity, annuls for it and the rest of 
the world all the riches with which Providence has endowed its 
privileged soil, and obliges the allied powers to have periodical re- 
course to costly expedilijns to recall the duties of ephemeral 
and unreasonable government!?. This interest should lead them 



S O L I i> A K I T Y OF NATIONS. . 83 

not to discourage attempts of the nature of that which I have just in- 
dicated to you, and you should not refuse them your encouragement 
and moral support, if, through the position of men who would take 
the initiative and through the sympathy that they would meet with 
from the mass of the population, you saw a chance of success for 
establishing an order of things of a nature to secure the interests of 
the foreign residents, that protection to and those guarantees, which 
have failed them until now. The Emperor's government relies upon 
your prudence and discernment to judge in concert with His Majesty? 
commissary, whose knowledge acquired in his sojourn in Mexico will 
be precious to you, during the events which may develop themselves 
under your eyes and aid you to determine the measm'e in which you 
may be called upon to take part in them. 

Signed, Tiiouvenel." 

All Louis Napoleon's duplicity appears in this dispatch. We re- 
member the confidential dispatch which Monsieur Thouvenel ad- 
dressed, but a month before the 11th of October, 18G0, to the French 
ambassador in London, and in which he spoke of that ostensMe Con- 
vention for the vulgam pecm the Legislative Assembly of France 
and the government of the United States, and in which he foresaw 
the establishment of a monarchial government in Mexico, thanks to 
the complications of our civil Avar. Well, then! that very government, 
which had condemned the Mexican Republic and had already takeh 
measures for throttling it, treats with its representative, Juarez, and 
proposes to him, with hypocrisy, conditions which it was impossible 
for him to accej)t; thus recognizing its existence in the face of the 
world who I, for a month or more, it has ceased to exist in the thought 
of the governments of France and Spain. Beside this, the minister 
of France renews this aironical declaration that the allies interdict 
themselves from intervening in the internal affairs of the country and 
especially from exercising any j^ressure upon the will* of the people as to 
the choice of their government, when already the Mexican emigres, 
Almonte and those in concert with him, have received instructions to 
overthrow the government of Juarez, and are at work under the flag 
of France. 

Is this all that is left of old French loyalty ■? 

In fine, as a last act of this shameful and ridiculous farce, . in which 
the honor of France, true honor, not that of its flag, but its loyalty, is 
at stake, — Monsieur Thouvenel sends to the French plenipotentiaries 
instructions from which I extract the last article thus conceived : 

"Article 9. As a guarantee of the accomplishment of the financial 
and other conditions laid down by the present uitimalu7n, France shall 
have a right to occupy the ports of Vera Cruz and Tampico, and such 
other ports of the Republic as she shall think fit, and to establish such 
commissaries at those ports as the Imperial government shall point out. 
The commissaries will have the mission to secm-e the payment, in the 
hands of the powers which have a right to them, of the funds to be 
raised tor their profit, in execution of foreign conventions, upon the 
products upon the maritime custom-houses of Mexico, and the payment, 
into the hands of the French agents, of the sums due to France." 

" The commissaries in question will, besides, be invested with the 



34 MEXICO, A X D X II K 

power to reduce, either by half, or in a less proportion, as they judge 
proper, the duties now prescribed in the ports of the Republic. 

" It is expressly understood that merchandise having already paid 
the rights of importation, cannot, in any case, or under any pretext 
whatever, be subjected by the supreme government or the state author- 
ities, to any additional rights of the internal or other custom-house 
duties, exceeding the proportion of fifteen per cent, upon the rights 
paid to importation." 

Where is the government which would consent to leave to foreign 
powers the right of determining the tariff of its ports '? 

And i tis in the name of the debt of a Swiss usurer, bought up by 
Monsieur de Morny, (whose relationship to Louis ISTapoleon is known 
to all), and to divide it among a few minions and courtesans, that France 
casts to the winds of chance its gold, the lives of its sons, and what is 
more, its old reputation for loyalty and generosity towards the weak 1 
There was a time when France boasted of being rich enough; to pay 
for her glory ; she should have kept something in reserve, to buy back 
her honor and wrest it from the hands of adventurers. 



C li A P T E R Y I. 

ArrEAEAKCES A"S. REALITY. 

The opening of the session of 1862 was awaited with great impa- 
tience everywhere, and by all parties. Every one observed, with 
anxiety, the spirit of adventure Avhich promenaded the fiag of France 
from the Sahara to' the Black Sea; from Italy to China, and from 
Cochiu-China to Mexico. There were no more, it is true ; vast 
hecatombs oifered by ambition to victory, and no longer was the old 
soil of Europe turned up, torn by the iron of France, and watered 
by the blood of her sons, to cause new scions of the Gorsican dynas- 
ty to spring up there. ISTothing so great, nothing so frightful was to be 
feared. It was only the prodigal nephew playing truant, and casting 
to the four winds of heaven the ill-gotten inheritance of liis million- 
aire uncle; 

France, at the inoiment when her Houses were about to meet, no 
more feared great catastrophes like Waterloo than she hoped for 
great victorief> like Austerlitz. What tormented her was to see her 
money, every day, taken from her pocket, now to prop uj) the Pope's 
throne,' and again to furnish one to an Austrian archduke. France 
Avas Sad at seeing that, spite of the millions .expended in China and at 
Rome, she had only obtained of the first coilntry a Count of Pelikow, 
' and some old china, and of the second a few blessings as an offset to 
' 'Tiiany maledictions. ■ Wliat would be the result of this new Mexican 
adventure '? was now the query. . ' ,, .-, i,.- m ;. 

On tlie 27th January, 1862, the emperor, in' his H^'^hihg spe^^^ 
(expressed lumself thus: ' ; 

■•' We should be struggling with llo one if, in Mexifeb, the proceed- 
ings of 'an unsbrtSfpuloiis governmdttt' had' hot obliged tis to lihite with 



s o I- 1 D A i: 1 T r o V X a t ions. ym 

Spain aud England to protect our natives and repress attempts 
made against humanity and international rights." 

In spite of this declaration, which seemed to indicate some other 
aim in the expedition besides a legitimate reparation, to be demanded 
bj force of arms, the country was not reassured. It was already 
known that measures had been taken at Miramar witli regard to 
Archduke Maximilian. These measures were so tar from being a 
secret, that the officers of the expedition said, in the caj^es and else- 
iwhere, that they Yfere going to raise a throne for Archduke Maxi- 
*miliau, upon the Mexican soil. Such rumors even reached the ears 
of Lord Cowley, who, on the 24th January, 1862, wrote to Lord 
John Russell: 

" I have heard it said, in so many directions, that the officers who 
are going to Mexico witli rehiforcements declare that they are going 
there Avith the aim of placing Archduke Maximilian upon the throne, 
that I have thouglit it necessary to (|uestion Monsieur Th-ouvenel on 
the subject. 

" I have asked him whether negotiations were pending between 
France and Austria with i-egard to the Archduke Maximilian. His 
Excellency replied in the negative, and said that the negotiations 
had been opened by the Mexicans alone, who had come to Vienna 
with this aim." 

There was a great difference ah-eady between rumors going the 
roimdsofthe streets and barracks, and that mysterious silence Avhich, 
for several months, had not ceased to surround those secret measures, 
the result of which was no longer a secret to English diplomacy ; for, 
three days later, on the very day when the emperor opened the leg- 
islative session, (and nothing was talked of but a simple redress of 
wrongs). Lord J. Russell sent the following dispatch to hispleniopo- 
tentiary minister in Mexico : 

"Sir: I have received your dispatches of the 18th and 28th No- 
vember, and have placed them under the eyes of the queen. Since I 
wrote to you, the Emperor of the French has decided to send 3,000 
more men to Vera Cruz. 

"It is supposed that these troops will march upon Mexico with 
the French and Spanish troops already in Mexico. It is said that 
the Archduke Ferdinand Maximilian will be i7ivited by a great 
number of Mexicans to mount the throne of Mexico, and that the 
Ilexican x>^ople loill he glad of this change in their form of govern- 
naent. 

" I have little to add to my first instructions upon this subject. If 
the Mexican people, by a simultaneous movement, place the Austrian 
archduke upon the throne of Mexico, we have nothing to do with 
preventing this proceeding ; that is not in our convention. 

"On the other hand, we cannot take part in an intervention by 
force, with this aim ; the Mexicans must consult their own interests. 

The archduke Maximilian "will be invited" by a great number! 
"The Mexican people will be glad!" This is the sublimity of con- 
tempt for the people, and it is impossible to inock at a nation with 
more graceful ease. To decree joy and foresee the will of the people ! 
There is nothing like an emperor for power and perspicuity. The 
Opposition took fire and thought proper to propose the following 



3Q MEXICO, ANDTHE 

amendment to the address in reply to the discom-se from the throne ; 

" We see with regret that the Mexican expedition is beginning. 
Its aim appears to be to intervene in the internal affairs of a nation. 
We engage the government to j)m'sue nothing but the redress of our 
wrongs." 

A discourse took place between Jules Favre, in the name of the 
Opposition, and Monsieur Billaut, then viinistere de la parole^ in the 
name of the government. 

Jules Favre seemed to fear some hidden thought of monarchial 
restoration ; he had heard the rumors, and read the English minister's 
dispatches over his shoialder. Monsieur Billaut replied : 

" England and Spain have united with us. The same offer has 
been made to the United States ; but the United States, as regards 
Mexico, does not appear to concentrate its views upon a simple re- 
paration of the damage done. Its policy sees things in another light, 
and we have decided to act without it. [Very well!] 

" But should not this reunion of the three powers reassure you 
fully against the particular suppositions which have made the basis 
of your speech ? JSeyond the patent and decided facts, you persist 
in seeing, I know not what secret machinations of France for the 
benefit of a foreign interest. 

"When such suppositions are formed some proof should be given, 
and you have none !" 

Jules Favre still insisted. 

Monsieur Billaut became still more explicit. 

" The convention passed between the three powers is clear and 
precise. The aim is to exact from Mexico, 1st, A more efficacious 
protection for the persons and property of their subjects. 2dly, The 
execution of the obligations contracted towards them by that Re- 
public ; and article 3d of the convention adds : 

" The three contracting i^ai'ties engage not to seek for themselves, 
in the employment of the coercive measures foreseen by the present 
convention, any acquisition of territory,or any particular advantage, 
nor to exercise in the internal affairs of Mexico any influence of a 
nature to i^ijure the right of the Mexican nation, to choose and freely 
constitute the form of its government. All this is clear and precise; 
all this very clearly expresses what the three powers wish to do in 
common, and what they interdict themselves from doing ; against 
these solemn declarations what proof have you ?" 

"Then why do you go to Mexico?" exclaimed Jules Favre, with 
great good sense. 

" You ask us why we go to Mexico ? Gentlemen, the topographic 
and hygienic situation of the country commands it as much as the 
needs of policy. To seize the shore, and remain there, is to give up 
our troops to yellow fever, (cries of ' That is true ! that is true !") it 
is to condemn our action to powerlessness ; anarchy would retrench 
itaelf in the interior, and laugh at France and her efforts. 

" It is in the very heart of this power that a decisive blow must 
be given ; and, leaving the yellow fever behind us, we must go, »s 
early as possible, to use force with an enemy less formidable than the 
fever itself. 

"It is there, and there alone, that it will be possible to impose 



S O I. I » A R 1 T Y OF NATIONS, 37 

respect for our laws by force, and the respect of those of our natives, 
as well as the execution of obligations too long ago contracted 
towards our country. 

" This is why our troops are going to Mexico ; they departed on 
the 20th February, and must now be there." 

The argument, though specious, might not.be without value. They 
oould not in effect leave the troupes de debarquement to die ot 
yellow fever in the hot lands ; it was necessary to reach the temper- 
ate regions, and Monsieur Billaut must necessarily receive great ap- 
plause from the majority, which was the case. Led away by that ma- 
jority, heated with success, the government orator did not wish to 
leave his triumph incomplete ; he confirmed it by these words, which 
every man must necessarily have thought to be inspired at that mo- 
ment by the most sincere candor and the warmest conviction : 

" This principle which we proclaim, this principle which is the 
basis of our jDublic right, the independence of the people's vote and 
of national sovereignty, is one that we shall not go to Mexico to 
violate, but we will leave those unfortunate populations perfectly free, 
pressed upon as they are by the governments which you praise, and 
which have never been able to give them any of those benefits, 
any of the securities which form the rights of civilized society ; if 
they wish to continue this miserable existence, v^e do not impose a 
better lot upon them • but if they wish a better lot for themselves, 
oh ! then, we shall encourage them with all our sympathy, counsel 
and moral support." 

We who have seen the contents of the Spanish and French dis- 
patches of 1861, that of Lord John Russell on the 27tli of January, 
1862, and have been to Miramar with the Mexican emigres, know 
what to think of jDhrases like this. 

As for those rumors in the barracks and cafes, Avhich exalted Max- 
imilian to the throne of Mexico, and to Avhich the English minister 
wrongfully attached suflicient importance to make them the subject 
of a dispatch, they are not, of course, worth dwelling upon ! 

" Such gentlemen is the situation very clearly set forth. And as 
for the rumors which, said the honorable speaker, "gave ximbrage 
to Her British Majesty," permit me to pass them by. Oflicers about 
departing have said that they were going to Mexico to place a for- 
eign prince upon the throne. What ! do you imagine that this great 
secret of diplomacy, if it have ever existed, could have been thus 
given up to the first officer that came in the way as he was setting 
out for Mexico ? This cannot be serious." 

Public credulity cannot be more skilfully imposed upon. Our 
American Secretary of State was caught in the trap, and with lively 
emotion thanked the French goveimment for its candor and upright- 
ness, in the following dispatch, addressed from Washington on the 
14th of May, 1862, and sent through Mr. Dayton. 

" Monsieur Thouvenel fulfills the desire of the President as to the 
Mexican question when he affirms that we may look upon the speech 
made by Monsieur Billaut as an expression of the thoughts and views 
of the French government. You will express to Monsieur Thouvenel 
the esteem with which the uprightness and the frankness of his 
explanations inspire us, Sc, dtc. 



B8- , M EX ICO. A N I> r H E 

Let it not be thought that this was a moment of surprise ; for, two 
months after on the 14tli of July, 1862, Mr. Seward wrote to our 
minister in Mexico, (Mr. Corwin): " It is very certain that if there 
was ever a project for raising a throne in Mexico for; an; Austrian 
archduke, it teas long ago abandonecV' '■!•■'';■ 

It is impossible to be more innocent or more easily durped. 

In the midst of all this one asks oneself. What were our ageitts 
Abroad doing, and of what use were they ? Can we not, with our 
monev, be served as well as France and England ? 



CHAPTER VII. 

APPEARAX^CES VS. KEALITY. 

Events no longer delayed giving a formal contradiction to Mon- 
sieur Billaut's assertions. On the very eve of the expedition, when 
uncertain minds looked upon it with anxiety, it was necessary, above 
all, to reassure public opinion in the interior and that of foreign 
governments abroad. We have seen how iMonsieiir Billaut acquit- 
ted himself of this difficult task. We have listened to his assertions, 
so formal, so precise, so often repeated in proof of the disinterested- 
ness of French intervention, and of the profound respect of the 
government of France for the absolute independence of the Mexican 
people. 

We come to 1864. Time has progressed and events have liastened on. 
Vera Cruz, evacuated by the Mexicans, the Convention of the Sole- 
f^aci? broken, Puebla carried by assault, Mexico occupied, the empire 
proclaimed, Juarez flying, and the Republic strangled, it was neces- 
sary to explain all that, aud especially to make events harmonize with 
the policy of Louis NajDoleon's government, in order to prove his 
consistency, the unity of his policy, as well as depth of his views, 
and show him to the people as directing events without ever being- 
governed by them. As for the truth of those assertions made in the i 
House in 1862, they were held as of but little importance. ' 

Mr. Billaut was no longer in office. It is Monsieur Rouher who 
speaks. As for Jules FaAa-e, he is always at his post, and it is to him 
tliat Rouher replied, on tlie 28th of January, 1864, in these words: 

" From the first day, then, we have said the truth ; reparation of 
our griefs, protection of oiw nationalty, eventuality, necessity, per- 
haps, for going to Mexico. If we go to Mexico, the govertiment of 
Juarez catmot be tnaintained, and a new one will certainly be 
needed. ,., , 

" Such being the case, the form and condition of this governmenitt 
must necessarily be studied by prudent cabinets, decisive upon en- 
gaging themselves in a distant expedition." 

Little store, as is seen, is set uj)on Monsieur Billaut's assertions 
in 1862, and the just susceptibility of a House and people unworth- 
ily mocked. Monsieur Biliaiit was no longer there, the House elect- 
ed by the government no longer counted, and as to the people, the 
Imperial Guard and its 40,000 bayonets answered for them. 



S O I> I B A R I T Y O V NAT! ON S . 3^ 

Led away by his force of reasoning and by the self-love of success. 
Monsieur Rouher read a dispatch from Monsieur Thouvenel to Count 
Flahaut, written on the llth October, 1861. Let the date be re-vt, 
marked and remembered, as it preceded the Convention of the Slsfe)^ 
of October, and the reiterated assertions of Monsieur Thouvenel;! 
to our government, as well as those of Monsieur Billaut to the Legis"' ' 
lative Assembly. 

" But the interest which, (says Monsieur Thouvenel) in our eyes, 
attaches itself to'the regeneration of this country, does not, it ap- 
pears to us, admit of neglecting any of the symptoms which may in- 
sure the success of such an attempt. With regard to the form of 
this government, because it gave the country and ourselves sufficient 
guarantees, we had not, nor do I suppose that England had, any 
preference or predisposition. But, if the Mexicans themselves, tired 
of their trials, decided upon reacting against a disastrous past, de- 
rived fresh vigor from the consciousness of the dangers which threaten 
them ; if, returning, for example, to the instincts of their race, they 
found it good to seek in a monarchial government that repose and 
prosperity which they have not met with in the republican institu- 
tions, I do not think that Vfe should absolutely interdict ourselves 
from aiding tliem, if there were room for doing so, in the work of 
their regeneration, "vvhilc recognizing tliat Ave ought to leave them 
entirely free to choose the way by which it appears to them best 
to be led. 

" Pursuing the development of these ideas in the form of a private 
and contidential conversation, I added that, in case the provision 
which I have indicated was realized, the government of the. Emperor, 
disengaged from ail interested preoccupation, would, in advance, hold 
aloof from any candidature of a prince of the Imperial family, and 
that, desirous of sparing all susceptibility, it would see, with pleasure, 
that the choice of the Mexicans and the assent of the powers were 
bestowed upon a prince of the House of Austria." 

It probably was this conversation that caused Lord John Rus- 
sell to notify his agent in Mexico, on the 27th of January, 1862, of 
the invitation, foreseen on the part of a great number of Mexicans, 
calling upon Maximilian to the throne : and the future joy of the 
Mexican nation on learning this good news. 

Was Monsieur Billaut ignorant of this dispatch in 1862, or was 
he acquainted vv'ith it ? 

This language does not yet appear to have been sufficiently clear. 
Monsieur Rouher wishes to leave no doubt remaining in the minds 
of his hearers, as to, the deep thought which had foreseen, conceived 
and executed the great Mexican adventure ; so he reads the folio wing- 
passage from a di>ipatch sent by Monsieur Thouvenel to Monsieur 
Barrot, dated 15th of October, 1864. 

" Pudence counselled us not to discourage, in advance, the efforts 
that this country would itself attempt, ioith the inoral support that 
the presence of our forces upon its shores viight afford it, to give 
it a stable and regidar governinent ; prudence suggested, in fine, 
that, while leaving it completely free in the choice of its govern- 
ment, the three poAvers could not, in the name of their interest, 
.absoluteh' interdict themselves from, aidina the 3fexicans in the. 



40 M E X I C O , A K D T H E 

work of their regeneration. It was by bringing myself to look from 
this 2^oint of vieio that I loas led to speak to Lord Crowley of 
the EVENTUALITY of the ononarchial form in Mexico', as, you will also 
see, is the case, in my dispatch to Monsieur de Flahaut. Monsieur 
Rouher continues, and quotes a conversation between Monsieur 
Thouvenel and the Spanish ambassador, Mon, in which he declared' 
to him that — • 

" In the event of a monarchy in Mexico, France^ would accept- 
the arch-duke of Austria, thus removing, in an absolute manner, that- 
intervention of a prince of the house of Bourbon whom Spain was 
seeking to place upon the Mexican throne." 

A declaration wanting in tact, which, reducing to nothingness the 
project of Spain as to the Boiu'bonian restoration, determined the 
defection of that power. 

In the sessions of the 12th of May, 1864, our indefatigable cham- 
pion of the Imperial government replied anew to Jules Favi"e : 

" "We have not attached ourselves to vain recriminations, we have 
not wished to accept ephemeral reparation ; from the first day, we were 
resolved te march upon Mexico, if the care for our honor and the 
protection of oui- natives required it, in spite of the severe blame and- 
something also, of ignoble calumuny; then, when the situation be- 
came modified, we did not abandon the path we had traced out for our- 
selves. We had gone to Mexico to overthrow a man who had dared 
to outrage France, as well as for the satisfaction of our honor. We 
had undertaken the general pacification of the country; we had 
organized the finances, the administration, the army of that nation 
so long unhappy, and we had called upon it to chose the government 
imder which it desires to live." 

Thus, when the French plenipotentiaries according to ^Monsieur 
Thouvenel's orders, imposed in acceptable conditions upon Juaeez, 
which he neverless accepted, the government of France played an un- 
worthy farce. 

Is it. then, surprising that Monsieur de Saligny, who had sought to 
throw u^Don the Mexican government the responsibility of the rupture 
of the Convention of the Soledad,^ by reproaching it, as he does in the 
letter of the 16th April, 1862, dated Cordoba, with having "after 
the signature of the said Convention, continued with redoubled viol- 
ence to attempt inquiry into the rights and property of subjects of 
His Imperial Majesty, of having outraged the most sacred rights of 
humanity, &q., * * « of having suffered French soldiers to be 
assassinated upon the Vera Cruz road, and, consequently, of having 
necessitated the rupture of the Conventions, and the use of force." 

Was this declaration included in the programme fi'om the outset ? 
What did the reply of Jesu Teran, the minister of Juarez, avail (this - 
reply was dated 20th of Ajjril, 1862 and sent from Mexico), aflirming 
that no attempt had been made upon the property of any French 
resident, and that, as for the soldiers killed upon the road of Vera 
Cruz, it was the first news that he had of it ; also that he Avas quite, 
disposed to have recourse to severe punishment, if such a fact had 
really occurred 1 What avails it to add, in return, that the Mexican 
Government had a right to complain, that " a few days after the sign- 
ing of the preliminaries, the allied plenipotentiaries gave hospitality to 



SOr. IDABITT OF NATIONS. 41 

several men, criminals towards the Republic, some from Europe and' 
others from Vera Cruz, where they had fled from their country's justice; 
and that others, encouraged by them, had left the rebel forces, of which 
they formed a part, and all had conspired to overthrow public order,"" 
as appeared from the documents furnished by the minister of Juarez t 
What does it avail to add, that " all these criminals have reappeared: 
upon every point of the territory, protected by French troops 
against the action of the legal authorities of the nation '?" What, 
avails it to add, fhat the French officers have gone so far as to cast 
Mexican authorities into prison, threatening them with shooting upon 
the smallest pretext? 

Had not all this been made ready and foi'eseen by the French gov- 
ernment ? Did not Monsieur Rouher say that the Emperor had not 
sent the flag of France into Mexico to content himself Avith an ephem- 
eral reparation, but to overthrow Juarez and his government ? 

And what need was there of Monsieur Rouher's declarations. So 
any one who knows the French soldier, to any one Avho has lived with 
the French armies, it it is evident that the acts committed by the 
French army were acts ordered in advance, consequently foreseen. — 
Never does a French officer commit an act of impetuous zeal. There 
is too little latitude for such acts, and the discipline is too rigid. 

A French officer does what he is told to do; nothing more. But he 
does all that he is told to do, and as it had been decided that the gov- 
ernment of Juarez had ceased to exist, as it had been decided, accord- 
ing to Lord John Russell, that "a great number of Mexicans were to 
invite the arch-duke Maximilian to mount the throne of Mexico,"' 
and that *' the entire Mexican nation would rejoice," it was necessary 
that the numerous Mexicans who had been exiled and condemned by 
Mexican law should circulate freely, and that Mexican authorities: 
should be prevented fi-om placing any obstacle in then- way. 

^ Nothing can be more simple or more natiu-al, and the French officers^, 
in imprisoning Mexican authorities, only executed the orders from: 
Paris transmitted by Dubois de Saligny. The only difficult point to 
explain is how to cause Monsieur Billaut's declarations to harmonize 
with the facts. Such a thing was not even thought of 



CHAPTER VIII. 

But, though Monsieur Rouher did not not consider it of any im- 
portance to show the difference between the declarations of Monsieur 
Billaut in 1862, and those of the government in 1864, betAveen facts 
and promises. I do not consider it necessary to imitate his reserve — 
and shall continue to show how much the word of their governraeiat 
is to be depended upon. Surely, if the Honorable Monsiem* Larabure 
had any precise idea of the degree of faith that a man of good sense 
should attach to the official declarations of a Minister, be he lohom he may, 
or those of any Monarch whatsoever, he would have smiled when Monsieur 
Billant, in 1862, represented the intervention in the light of an expe- 



4:2 ,M.K X I C O , AN D ..T H K . 

ditioii, witliout importauce, and reduced to slender proportipus. In 
1863, he wonld have slirugged his shoulders when the same orator 
represented the French government as led on, in spite of itself, by cir- 
cumstances, into a successiye development of expeditions which it had 
not expected to undertake. And when the master himself, Louis 
Napoleon, affirmed in the discourse from, the throne, of the same year, 
lihat : " The distant expeditions, the object of so miich criticism, have not 
been the execution of a premeditated plan ; the force of circumstances 
lias brought them about; nevertheless, they are not to be regretted." 
Monsieur Larabure would have contented himself with reading over 
his imperial letter, addressed to General Forey, on the 3d July, 1862, 
and would have been convinced that His Imperial Majesty lied like a 
mere mortal. 

The great error ot nations is in believing that there is a difference 
between a royal word and that of a charlatan ; the only real difference, 
in my eyes, is that one repeats, always, with ostentation : "I give you 
my royal word," while the other, after having given explanations, 
which the public are free to accept or reject, has the good sense not to 
stake his word as a charlatan. Now, as the people believe all that is 
said to them, they believe the royal word, and the quack's speech, and 
the result is always the same — they are duped. 

This is what happened to Monsieur Larabure, as is proved by his 
report upon supplementary credit, in the session of ISe-l. The follow- 
ing passage occurs therein with relation to Mexico : 

" We must not disguise it from ourselves, these repeated expeditions 
disquiet the nation. Let us say it forthwith, to be just, that as to that 
of Mexico, which weighs, the most upon the public mind, and upon our 
budget, it has only acquired the considerable proportions of which it 
now gives evidence, owing to a series of unfortunate incidents, which 
the government could neither foresee nor prevent;" 

How much more sensible was Monsieur Berryer, when, during the 
same year, in the discussions relative to the same credits, he said ; 

" Nothing a#iiets me more than the present division of the United 
States. I aspire to the re-establishment of peace with as little sacritice 
as possible to both parties in that great nation. But in what manner 
soever afiairs terminate, do not forget that North America will always 
be a considerable and powerful State, upon the whole American terri- 
tory ; do not forget that there is offence to her in our conduct in the 
expedition to Mexico. 

"Those who exclaim have not sufficiently studied either the docu- 
ments under our eyes o.t all the historical facts that cannot be denied, 
and which only go bacli during the three last years, I do not speak of 
that profound feeling which is the vital principle, the nerve of po- 
litical existence in the United States, of that sentiment called the 
Monroe doctrine ; that is to say, in the impatient and inimical feeling 
with which these United States regard the intervention of any European 
power in American affairs. 

*' I do not speak of this feeling—but how did you begia the Mexi- 
■can expedition ? By the Convention of the 31st October. 

*' And what did you say in tliat convention? Yielding to a desire 
on the part of England, you say that the United States are invited to 
form a part in it. You beg tliem to do so; and in a letter written on 



!S O T, I D A 11 I T V <) I- N A T I O N tS . 48 

the 25th of July, 18G2, I have read, in the clearest terms, that you 
propose to form a new establishment in Mexico, precisely in order to 
dinainish the influence of, the Northern States, and to prevent that 
power, whose prosperity would nevertheless be so useful to our com- 
merce, from assuming a disquieting development in South America. 
Thus, the Mexican expedition 7cas parthj undertaken against the United 

St^te^-, 

' ''1 exaggerate nothing, gentlemen; I tell the truth. Read once 
more the letter of the month of July, 1862, and you will see, in plain W 
terms, that the development of the United Statps must be arrested. 

"Well, then, if you succeed, when the United States, towavd which 
you have acted thus, (and who have that vital principle of which I 
have just spoken,) see, after the termination of their war, a State that 
you cannot sustain, even at the cost of immense sacrifices, and, how- 
ever immense they may be. I fear they would, unfortunately, be use- 
less. . When the "United States see, I repeat, that establishment that 
will have been raised against them, hostilities will come from all sides; 
the Repubhc of the North will not endure the imperial monarchy of 
Mexico, and war will break out sooner or later. Such are the perils 
into which you draw Prince Maximilian by inviting liim to enter an 
impossible situation, an impracticable one, which Avill be ruinous to 
France if she persists in such an enterprise. " [Applause from several 
benches.] . 

What admirable good sense is shown by this octegenarian, the 
Nestor of parliamentary debate! Is it not strange to see this accredit- 
ed representative of legitimacy expressing himself with so much sym- 
pathy for our great Republic, when, at the same moment, one of the 
enfants terrihles of the same party, the Prince de Polignac, the descend- 
ant of those court minions who. under all circumstances, have known 
how to ruin and compromise all that they have attempted to defend, 
was fighting in tiae Confeder.ate ranks and contributing to Banks' de- 
feat upon the Red River ! 

Monsieur Berryer is not a man to content himself with a simple ea-- 
P'^s'r ; he wishes to know to what degree France was engaged. 

!He interrogates the government on the 27th of January, 1864: 

"is it true that the government has not taken any engagement for 
the country, either in a financial view or as regarded our soldiers? 
Are we engaged, or are we not?" , . 

And Monsieur Roiiher sends him back to Monsieur Larabure ain^, 
his report : "If you liave read Monsieur Larabure's report, you will be 
edified." ;■ 

Now this is what the report said : 

"At this moment the emperor's government declares that it is en- 
gaged tovv^ard no one, neither to leave a corps of troops in Mexico nor 
to guarantee any loan whatever. He declares that he has no reason 
for thinking that it is necessary to increase the French forces now up- 
on Mexican soil." 

And Monsieur Rouher added, in the name of the government : 

"The government wiU not, in treating with the sovereign, have 
contracted a permanent and indefinite .solidarity for the maintaining of 
an empire in Mexico." , ; • 

This was vague; nevertheless,. the. sirgunjent remained where it was 



44 M E X I C O , A N D T H E 

for the moment, but it was soon to be resumed on tlie occasion of the 
acceptance of the Mexican crown by Maximilian, on the 10th of April, 
1864. On receiving the deputation, the new emperor had pronounced 
enigmatical words, the scope of which might be immense — he had 
said: 

" The guarantees necessary to place the independence and prosper- 
ity of the country upon a solid base are also acquired, thanks to the 
magnanimity of the emperor of the French." 

What were the necessary guarantees acquired, thanks to imperial 
magnanimity f 

On the 16th of April the Moniteur threw some light upon that mag- 
nanimity, by publishing the diplomatic convention, in which the follow- 
ing passages appear : 

" The governments of His Majesty, the emperor of the Fi'ench, and 
His Majesty, the emperor of Mexico, animated by an equal desire to 
secure the establishment of order in Mexico and consolidate the new 
empire, have resolved to regulate by a convention 

" Article First — The French troops now in Mexico will be reduced' 
as soon as possible to 25, 000 men, including the Foreign Legion. 

This corjas as a safeguard to the interests which have been the mo- 
tive of the intervention, wiU remain temporarily in Mexico, conditions 
regulated by the following articles : 

"Article Second — The French troops will evacuate Mexico by de- 
grees, as His Majesty can organize the troops necessaiy to replace 
them." 

"Article Third — ^The Foreign Legion in the service of France, com- 
posed of 8,000 men, will nevertheless remain during three years in 
Mexico, after all the : other French forces shall have been recalled, in 
conformity to Article Three. From that moment, the said Legion will 
pass into the sevice and pay of the Mexican government. The Mex- 
ican government reserves to itself the faculty of abridging the dura- 
tion of employment in Mexico for the Foreign Legion. 

"Article Ten — The indemnity to be paid to France by the Mexican 
government for expenses, pay, feeding and keeping the troops of the 
corps d' armee from the 1st of July, 1864, will remain taxed at the 
rate of 1,000 francs to each man for each year." 

A vague increasinn anxiety on the subjects of moral and political 
responsibility of France hangs over these Articles, in presence of the 
ever increasing expense. Every one asked how long, how much 
mon ey,'how many men ? On the 1 1th of May, Monsieur Ben-yer speaks 
again and becomes the interpreter of this inquietude. Always clear 
and pressing, as well as eloquent, the orator suffers no door of escape 
to open for his adversary: nevertheless Monsieur Rouher does escape by 
relating the history of the exjDedition to the deputies who must have 
been acquainted with it already. 

His Excellency Monsieur liouher, minister of state, resuming his 
discourse ! The honorable Monsieur Berryer, with regard to the gen- 
eral discussion of the budget, has discussed the whole Mexican 
question. This question has given rise in the House to numerous un- 
favorable apprehensions. The worst is looked for. 

"When we discussed it last year, we were told, 'Your expedition to 
San Luis de Potosi is madness ; you will disperse the French army 



S O L I D A It I X Y OF K A.T IONS. 45 

over 400 leagues of territory; the Mexican army, at the orders of 
Juarez, of Uragua, and of Doblado, will beat our detached bat- 
talions.' " 

Monsieur Thiers—" That was not said." [InteiTuption.] 
His Excellency, M. Rouher, minister of state— "The Honorable 
Monsieur Thiers has only to take up the discourse of the Honorable 
Monsieur Jules Favre, and he will see Avhat appreciations are con- 
tained therein." 

Monsieur Jules Favre — " I have never doubted our military success." 
Monsieur Rouher — "We were told that the expedition was march- 
ing against the wishes of the Mexican population." 
A Voice — " That was justly said." [Interruption.] 
Monsieur Rouher — "Justly I Does any one dare say that? You 
have forgotten the triumphant march of General Bazaine over 400 
leagues of territory, our entrance into Guanajuato, Queretaro and San 
Luis de Potosi, the shouts uttered wherever the French army flung 
forth its flag ! Have the facts of history, then, no truth in the eyes of 
certain blind men'? [Very well ! very well !] You have criticised this 
expedition to San Luis de Potosi ; it was a triumphant march. [Fresh 
approbation.] 

" What, here is a new empire founded, a sovereign who has not yet 
taken possession of his throne, a government that is,not yet organized, 
and you think that it is not a great proof of confidence on the part of 
the capitalists to have subscribed to the credit of this government 
0,000,000 of rentes, when you see old governments find no sub- 
scribers to their loans *? It is not to be doubted that when the Em- 
peror Maximilian goes from Vera Cruz to Mexico, amid the enthusi- 
astic demonstration of the people, " [Noise on some of the 

benches.] 

Monsieur E. Picard — "Let the army be recalled, then." 
This is precisely what good sense advised, but what Louis Napo- 
leon's policy did not wish. Our struggle with the South was at its 
apogee, our finances, which were said to be exhausted, gave Europe 
the hope that, with a recruiting system in which each volunteer paid 
himself from $700 to $900, the war would end — '■^faute de combaUants" 
— after having dragged on for some years longer, and left both sides 
so exhausted that Louis Napoleon's political aim would be attained, the 
republic weakened and held in check by a powerful monarchy. 

Monsieur Rouher, as may easily be imagined, did not think fit to 
reply to Monsieur Picard. 

On the morrow, the 12th of May, the attack was renewed. This 
time it was Jules Favre who mounted to the assault of the ministerial 
intrenchments. The breach was made, and he entered the place. 

"You know, gentlemen," said he, "what arrangement has been 
made. In order to defray the expenses of the war, a new mode of 
procedure has been found : it is to cause them to be paid by the victo- 
rious power, for France issues 6,000,000 of titles, which are only notes 
of obligation under her signature. [Exclamations.] 

" The convention inserted in the Momteur on the 16th of April has 
regulated the conditions of the sojourn of our French troops in Mexico. 
This is very different from the declarations made in Monsieur Lara- 
bure's repoit : our troops are to remain in Mexico ; how long ? so long 



46 M K X ICO, A X D T II E 

as tlie new empire is not consolidated, for this is, in ]-eality, the work 
that France has undertaken. The empu-e of Maxiiuilian must be con- 
soUdated. France is deceived when it is told that the expedition is 
ended. It has only begun. [A confused noise.] 

''We leave 25,000 men in Mexico, without any time being deter- 
mined ; political circumstances alone will fix the day for recalling our 
troops. It is said that these troops will be paid by the government of 
Mexico. This is a deplorable thing for France. [Interruption.] Our 
troops are thus placed under the pay of a foreign prince ; they will 
obey foreign policy; they may be engaged in adventures, enterprises 
and peril." 

Monsieur Rouher was here obliged to break in with an explanation 
as to the bearings of the convention of the 10th of April : 

" The question of Mexico must once more be treated. The honor- 
able Monsieur Jules Favre has told you that the treaty concluded with 
the Emperor, Maximilian, Avould violate the ^^engagements we have 
made with you ; he has spOken to you of the threats of American in- 
tervention sus|:)entied, like the sword of Damocles, oyer the head of 
this new Mexican empire. 

"While I heard the ironical praises bestowed upon the eloquence 
of the orators of the government when they portrayed the prosperity 
promised and already secured to Mexico, little aiFected by this irony, I 
partially read the Mexican Courior, which reached me on the instant. 
Here is what I read : 

'' The general situation of Mexico is every day ameliorated, as the 
masses understand and appreciate better the general views of the 
Emperor with regard to them. There resistance, localised upon a 
few points, has henceforward lost all national color. The bands fly 
at the approach of our troops and every time that they are surprised, 
they are cut to pieces. It is more and more a question of brigandage 
from which the inoffensive population suffers cruelly, which can be 
put doAvn by a well-organizHd police system. 

" For a month or two it was apparent that confidence revived. In 
the capital men of all classes and of all opinions were constantly cross- 
ing and meeting forgetting their enemity in a single sentiment — 
forgetfdlness of the past, faith in the future. Under these con- 
ditions, Avith the support of the Emperor's government and the' aid 
of European capital, Mexico cannot fail to enter ]n'omptly into its 
path of national prosperity, by which Europe will be the first to 
profit." 

'Several voices. " Where is the signature f 

Monsieur Rouher. 

" It is signed by Monsieur de Montholon." 

"A poor guarantee," said several voices. 

Mr. Rouher continued : 

" 13ut, it is said, the tfeaty contains eligageiiients coTltrai'^to 'bni- 
declaration. What does the treaty say ? In the first place, 'the d'drjjs 
d' armee will be reduced to 25,000 men. The expedition will be ended, 
and the return of the troops, until they comprise 10,000 men, will be 
effected between now and the 1st of January, 1805. As for the re- 
maining 15,000 men, wc declare that they will remain, for the tiihe 
b3ing,jiu Mexico, to^guard the interests of France, which interests have 
been the motive of our intervention." 



S O I. I r> A K 1 T Y O K N A T 1 O X S . '^ * 

But the 1st of January, 1865 aud that of '66, also have passed bj. 
Not only the 10,000 men have not returned to France, but others are- 
sent thither every day. 

"Monsieur Geroult. Be so kind as to read the treaty. [A noise.] 

Monsieur Rouher, "I have not brought it with me ; but if the hon- 
orable Monsieur Geroult will be so kind as to hand it to me, I will 
read it to the House." 

Monsieur Ge'roult. "I have not got it at hand; but I think that 
the period for the return of our troops is left to the judgment of 
Emperor Maximilian."* 

Monsieur Rouher. The honorable Mpnsirur Geroult is in error, and^ 
from memory, I can re-i;>eat if not the text, at least the formal 
sense of the treaty. 

• "Article First indicates that the corjjs d' «?-?}^ee will be reduced to 
■'^5,000 men, and, for the time^ will remain in Mexico as a safeguard to 
the interests which have been the motive of our interventiun. \ 

" Thus 25,000 men will remain in Mexico, temporaily, that is tc/ say, 
so long as the interests of France require it, but no delay is imposed 
upon lis. The limit of that delay is left to France. 

"Now, can this occupation be iiidefinite ? No. The Emperor of 
Mexico reserves the right to himself to demand the return of our 
"■^liroopS as soon as the army of Mexico is oi'ganized. • 

■ Monsiem* Geroult : But we cannot remain tmtil then. [A noise.] 
A voice. Do not interrupt. ,: 

Monsieur Rouher. Does Monsieur Geroult know the facts ? Doe& 
he know that in Mexico there is already a national army of 25,000 
iiien, and does he not see that there is a common interest in putting- 
an end, as soon as possible, to an occupation which is onerous to the 
Emperor of Mexico ? The Mexi'can army is being organized. Mon- 
sieur Berryer declared yesterday that this year it will cost the Mexican 
government thirty-seven millions. It exists then. Our soldiers will 
return as soon as our interests no longer require their presence. 
Every day brings us nearer to the moment of the evacuation of the 
French troops, and the day when they will return will be hailed by 
both governments with equal satisfaction. 

" The treaty contains nothing which is a denial of the declaration 
made to the Legivslative Corps ; and if some are pained at the prolong- 
ation of our sojourn in Mexico, I care little for it,' because those are 
reroZMiio/mWes, who 'would be glad to renew |in the country that agi- 
•tation which existed in the time of Juarez: (Well said !) The treaty 
>iSs above all criticism. It has nothing %ut what is in conformity with 
the thoughts expressed by the Legislative Corps in the address. (Well 
said ! well said !)" . 

i; Is it possible to read this sorry conclusion without thinking, with 
^Miame at heart and a blush upon the cheek, of the abasement into 
^which that Assembly of France, formerly so great through the inde- 
pendence and energy of its liberal genius, has now fallen % One 
^'■Would think we had returned to the^days of Louis XIV, booted and 
-f^purred, with his whip in hand, and his hat upon his head, dictating 
-Orders to his Parliament. Where the manly'accents of Mirabeau, Dan- 

■ tbn, Manuel, Victor Hugo, and Ledru RoUin resounded, nothing is 
heard but the cracking of an imperial whip, calling its subjects to 



48 MEXICO, AND T U K 

good behavior. '"Revolutionaries!" cries the shrill voice of the 
^minister de la parole and the frightened pack runs to its kennel, with 
■ears down and head bent. 
Poor France 1 



CHAPTER IX. 

THE REALITY. 

The session of 1865, by bringing the discourse from the throne 
.and the address, brought back the same vain promises and the same 
timid wishes. This session was particularly remarkable from the 
speech made by Thiers with relation^ to the financial situation, but 
let us not anticipate. 

In his opening discourse, Louis ^Napoleon said : 

" Thus all our expeditions are near then* end : our land troops have 
•evacuated China ; the navy suffices to maintain our establishment in 
Cochin China; oui* army of Africa is about to be reduced; that of 
Mexico is already reentering France ; the garrison of Rome will soon 
i-eturn, and, in closing the temple of war, we may, with pride, inscribe 
upon a new arch of triumph these words: 'To the glory of the French 
.armies, for victories gained in Europe, Asia, Africa and America.' 

"Let us give ourselves up without anxiety to the labors of peace. 

" In Mexico, the new throne is being consolidated, the country is 
being pacified, its immense resources are being developed: the happy 
effect of the valor of our soldiers,* of the good sense of the Mexican 
population, of the intelligence and energy of the sovereign." 

He forgot to tell France what vast sums these distant expeditions 
liad cost, and how little they had efiected ; but France, for a long time 
past, has ceased to be curious ; docile and resigned, it pays without 
mm'muring. As for the truth, it persists in holding aloof from Louis 
Napoleon, and obstinately refuses to sanction his assertions relative to 
-the " development of the immense resources of Mexico," and the con- 
solidation of the throne, as well as the pacification of the country. 

Louis Napoleon cared very little for this, and, passing it over, gave 
the following plausibla expose of the situation of the empu-e : 

"The Emperor Maximilian has taken possession of the crown, which 
kad been offered him by the national desire; and his arrival in his States 
has fortunately put an end to the provision ary situation of Mexico. 
The reception given to the Emperor in the capital and in the pro-vinces 
by all classes of the population, the adhesion that the important men. 
ot the different parties have come, successively, to offer to the imperial 
regime, permit no doubt as to the aspirations of the immense majority 
of the Mexican people. 

"The nQ^ sovereign will derive from these dazzling manifestations 
that strengthened confidence which is necessary to enable him to ac- 
complish the great and generous mission which he has resolutely ac- 
cepted. The pacification of so vast a country, where brigandage, profit- 
ing by the permanence of internal dissension, had constantly sheltered 



S O r. 1 D A U I T V O F U A T J O N S . 49 

itself under the flag of a political party, couUi not be aoc/jmplished i !>,,;» 
day. It is, nevertheless, rapidly ending, thanks to the activity an«J 
courage of our soldiers in the expeditions which have led thera to th<; 
most opposite points of the territory. In fact, the re-entranee into 
France of the men who compose our eftective, has already begun, an<"1 
will follow its course in the measure which our solicitude for the m- 
terest that led us to Mexico shall indicate. Functionaries from the 
different branches of our administration have l)een placed at the dispo- 
sition of the Mexican government, upon its demand, to aid it in the 
work of internal reorganization." 

Thus spoke the Emperor. The Legislative Corps replied: 

"The Legislative Corps thinks, like yourself, sire, that the uationM 
most wisely governed must not flatter themselves that they can always 
escape external complications, or that they can judge without error as 
well as without weakness. The divstant expeditions to China, Cochin- 
China and Mexico, which have followed, one upon another, have, in 
truth, greatly disturbed the mhid of France, owing to the obliu-ation?* 
and sacrifices to which they have led. We admit that, abroad, they 
must inspire respect for our natives and for the French flag, and that 
they may also develop our maritime commerce ; but we should he 
happy to see those good results soon realized, Avhich your M.ijesty leadn 
us to hope." 

For the Legislative Corps, this language, humble as it may appear in 
a free country, was very daring. It almost expressed a wish. 

Thiers came to clear up the financial question by his experience and 
his logical, clear and cutting words. 

The budget of 18G2, voted in 18G1, (ordinary and extraordinary,} 
comprised 1,970,000,000. The 18G2, when the rectifying budget, 
came, it added 192,000,000 to the preceding figure, which, added M. 
Thiers, is " easily explained ; was it not the year of the great Mexican 
expenditure, the year of the check of Pueblaf In 18G2 the defini- 
tive liquidation of the said budget added 50,000,000, so that the en- 
tire expenditure of 18G2 amounted to 2,212,000,000. 

The budget of 1863, voted in 18G2, (both ordinai-y and extraordi- 
nary,) comprised 3,061,000,000. The rectifying budget and liquida- 
tion brought this sum up to 2,292,000,000, "which is quite natural/' 
adds M. Thiers, with his ironical good nature; "this year was a year 
of great expenditure — we were obliged to transport 40,000 men to 
Mexico." 

The budget of 18G4, voted in 1863, (ordinary and extraordinaiy,) 
comprised 2,105,000,000; the rectifying budget added 135,000,000 
.•md liquidation added 40,000,000, v/hich gives a total of 2,270,000,000. 
a total sum-up of less than that of the preceding year, which M. Thiers 
explains to us in the following manner : Instead of having the ex- 
penses of transporting these men to pay for, France had only theiv 
keep to pay. If we refer to the budgets which preceded the new im- 
perial wars, the normal amount of which was about 1,500,000,000, it- 
will be seen that this figure of 762,000,000 — necessary to fill up the 
difierence in these old budgets and the new ones — can be attributed to 
but one thing : military expeditions and occupation ; now, those of> 
OochJn-China and Rome cost comparatively little; in fact those of 



50 M E X I O O , A N D T H K 

Rome do not amount to 20,000,000, and Cochin-CMna can only be 
counted from memory. 

The expenses carried to the budget for the embellishments of the cap- 
ital may be alleged. The supposed amount in 1863 was 250,000,000; 
but it is incontestible that these expenses bring in, while those in 
Mexico have never given a cent ; and it may be concluded that Mexico 
costs France, every year, more than 100,000,000, more or less skil- 
fully disguised or dissembled by five budgets, which, under divers 
titles, consummate the annual despoiling of the French people. M. 
Thiers writes that the evacuation of Mexico would produce merely an 
annual economy of 50,000,000. In this he is entirely wrong. The 
support of the troops alone costs that sura. There are, besides, secret 
expenses in a country where the security of the new order of things 
only rests upon spying and denouncing; and these, as well as the 
maintaining of Maximilian and his court, certainly cost, at least, as 
much. 

Mexico has engaged to pay 25,000,030 annually to France, to sup- 
port the French troops, and 2,400.000 francs for maritime transporta- 
tiou. There was a sum of 54 Mexican millions upon the budget of 
1864, inscribed in the chapter of receipts. These 54,000,000 have 
been given under title of the first loan emitted at 63, which is now at 
46. Can this be realized at such a discount? Can Mexico pay it"? 
With what ■? In obligations of the first loan ? But these titles which 
were at 345 have fallen to 315.50. Will it pay with money ? Where 
can it be found 1 Where are the resources to meet its engagements ? 
Its income revenue, carried up to 100,000,000, has, in reality, never 
exceeded 80,000,000 receipts ; nevertheless, the expenses of Mexico 
amount to 180,000,000. 

The custom houses, it is said, have, in these latter days, given fabu- 
lous products. The total figure of importation and exportation is 
200,000,000- Can they bear a tax of 50 per cent, and be able to pro- 
duce the 100,000,000 deficient in the receipts? 

IThe loan remains ; let us see what it produces. Thanks to arrears, com- 
missions and remittances, which it has been obliged to make — thanks 
to these prizes, an immoral lure thrown out by imperial coveteousness 
to popular cupidity, Mexico has received 40,000,000 out of 250,000,000 
which it had borrowed, as it is easy to see by the following letter from 
Mr. Romero to Mr. Seward : 

"Mexico, December 17, 1865. 

[Extract from a letter written by a commercial house in the City of Mexico, Dec, 17, 1S65.] 

'' 'The three loans put upon the market since the establishment of 
the empire have burdened the nation with a new debt of nearly 
$80,000,000. Of this sum only a small part, amounting to about 
^8,000,000, has been really used for the public service. The rest has 
disappeared in the amount withheld for interest in advance on the 
loans, the difierence between the nominal value of the loans and the 
price at which the bonds were sold, commissions to various bankers 
and others, expenses of operations on the Bourse, payment of the 
French army, return of sums advanced for the support of the Mexican 
forces, subvention to the line of steamers from St. Nazaire, payments 
on account of the civil list of the emperor, presents to various favorites, 
and remittances to Miramai-. 



S O I. I D A K I T Y OK NATIONS. 51, 

" 'In consequence, the finance commission in Paris lias at the dispo- 
sition of Maximilian only a small balance, which will be barely suffi- 
cient to cover expenses during the month of January.' 

" Although not in round numbers, on account of the danger of in- 
trusting the exact figures to a letter, I propose to give you some idea 
of the amount of the late loans, their distribution, and the sums that 
remain to be disposed of, reserving for some perfectly safe opportunity 
the transmission to you of the exact balances and the total amount of 
the foreign debt since the creation of the empire. 

"The acquisition of these important documents will reveal to the 
world the infamy that has been perpetrated in seeking to load Mexico 
with enormous sums that have only served to pay the war expenses of 
France and to enrich our sovereign and other high personages con- 
nected with the present order of affiiirs. 

"Perhaps in this letter I may be able to inclose you a copy of the 
revista which is pei'iodically sent to the United States, and in that you 
will find further details of the financial situation of the empire ; but, as 
it may not be possible, I give you here some idea of it : 

Total product of the loans, G6n.000,000 fran?s. Of this— 

The French army has received $I-',50(i.0OO 

Bankers' commissioDS 5,000,000 

Invested in the French rentes for the conversion of the first loan 4,000,000 

Interest on t;;e English debt 0,000,000 

Difference between 100 francs and C3 francs, which was the selling price 20,500,000 

Reserved for interest in advance on both loans (discount less than 03 francs), 

commissions, brokerages, and other expenses 7,500,000 

Received in Mexico 8,000, 000 

$09,600,000 
Balance remaining to the Government 2,500,000 

Total $72,000, 000 

Equal to a«0,000,000 francs. 

"■ From the above sum that remains, there has to be paid on the 
15th of February, the stipulated time, the last payment that remains 
to be made on account of the famous claim of Jecker, which Av^as set- 
tled at $5,000,000, and of which $3,000,000 have already been paid. 
The remaining sum of $500,000 has already been drawn for, to cover 
advances made by the French to the Mexican army in October and 
November, and $200,000 on account of $600,000 due to Maximilian 
for salary up to the end of December. 

"The Convention of Miramar, as it Avas signed on the 10th of April, 
1864, has been fully and duly carried out, there having been paid 
monthly to the expeditionary army $471,000, which is the sum 
monthly accruing, and which has been paid up to the 30th of Novem- 
ber of this year. In this way it is easy to see how it is that only the 
sum of $8,000,000 has remained to come to Mexico. 

"From the estimate of expenses for December, January and Febru- 
ary, 1865 and 1866, an idea can be formed of the sum expended by the 
government of Maximilian. It amounts to $10,000,000. The income 
from national revenues is estimated at $3,500,000. The balance of the 
loans is $2,500,000, thus leaving a deficiency of $4,000,000. But if. 
as I believe, the $2,000,000 to Jecker shall not be paid, and which are 
included in the above $10,000,000 of expenses, nor the subvention to 
the railroad, or the $60,000 which are remitted monthly to Yucatan, 
nor the $15,000 monthly which are remitted to New York for the 
press and other purposes, as well as various other sums which are not 



52 MEXICO, X N I> T H K 

vitally indispensable, I believe that, without other sources of supply, 
the existence of the Government may be prolonged until the end of 
February. From that time forward, neither by the greatest extor- 
tions, nor by duplicating the exactions of to-day, can its existence be 
prolonged for six months more.'" 

How can it pay r)4,000,000 in two years— 1865 and 1866 '? The 
enterprise may as well be called a failure at once, for the empire woiilA 
not have a year's existence. 

As M. Thiers very properly and very cunningly remarks, Mexico 
uses French money, and France uses the Mexican signature. That m 
the truth. 

It is the same with governments as with private individuals — their 
credit gives the measure of their strength. 

A government which, to procure 40,000,000, consents to sign an ob- 
lio-ation for 400,000,000, and which, to arrive at this result, appeals to 
the worst passions and stirs up the dregs of human cupidity, has i»o 
faith in its own future ; it borrows without a thought of returning ; the 
law would reach it as a madman or as a swindler, were it a private in- 
dividual, and honest people should mark it with moral stigma, in order 
to establish an impenetrable barrier between them and adventurers. 

The following exposure of the financial situation of Mexico, taken 
from 2'he Herald of the 2l8t of March, 1866, is still more eloquent than 
Monsieur Thiers' speech : 

The Ibllowing tables, compiled from inlbrmatipn recently received 
from official sources, present the financial condition of Mexico as it was 
in 1862, at the commencement of the French intervention,, and as it 
would be under the indebtedness already incurred by Maximilian, 
.should his attempted throne be maintained by France: 

First, they show that the French Government has charged Mexico 
for the expenses of invasion of her territory and other acts of inter- 
vention up to July 1, 1864, the sum of $50,000,000. Of this suiM|j. 
10 000,000 have been paid out of a loan subsequently made, and th(^■ 
remainder (40,000,000) has been funded as a claim due by Mexico to 
the French government itself. 

Second, that besides the above 10,000,000, loans have been negotia- 
ted for Maximilian in France to the amount of more than $150,000,000, 
which loans France is seeking to foist on the Mexican people as a 
leo-itimate debt, although every dollar realized therefrom has been used 
not for the welfare or benefit of Mexico, but to meet the expenses 
which have been incurred in this iniquitous attempt to overthrow re- 
publican institutions and establish a monarchy on American soil. 

Third, that while the claims of France against Mexico, as admitted 
by the constitutional government before the intervention began, 
amounted to less than .|3, 000, 000, the claims of France, as now put 
forward under Maximilian, and recognized by him, amount to over 
$193,000,000. This is apart from what may still be added under 
General Forey'.s recent and very significant reminder on the part of 
France, that it may be necessary "to make further pecuniary outlay.s 
in Mexico." 

Fourth, that while the entire foreign debt of Mexico before tht^ 
French intervention comtnenced, amounted to but a little over 
$80,000,000, that debt, if Maximilian is allowed to succeed, will be in- 



» O I- I r> A p. I T T O V N' A T 1 O X 8 . ^O 

<^reased, even if no further addition is made to it, to over $270,000,000. 

Fifth, that the annual expenses of Mexico under the republic were 
less tlian 5^12,000,000, while under Maximilian they have already 
reached the sum of $49,000,000. Of this sum over 10,000,000 per 
:mtium is due for interest from Maximilian to France. 

The following is a comparative statement of the legitimate foreign 
debt of Mexico, as recognized by the constitutional government of the 
republic, with the annual expenditures as established by act of Con- 
ijress, August 16, 1861, and the debt which the French intervention 
seeks to impose upon the country, and the annual expenditures under 
the so-called government of Maximilian : 

FtJREIGJr DEBT AS KECOGNIZED BY THE CONSTITUTIONAL OOVEKNMEKT IN 1863. 

To English Subjects. 

Funded Debt- 
Debt contracted in London, X10,'241,G50, interest 3 per cent, a $5 per pound $D1,2GS,250 

English coiiveiition debt, interest C per cent 4,175,000 

HVijding Claims — 

Bade interest unpaid, and other acknowledged claiine 13,?31,T90 

Various reclamations 696,616 



Total due Knfrlish fiubjects June 30, 16t3-2 $00,311,656 

7'o Spanish Subjects. 
J^nnded Debt- 
Admitted convention debt, interest 3 per cent . . .$4,205.4?! 

Additioufil anionnt in dispute, interest S per cent 2,427, !i4ii 

,.,. $0,033,428 

I'tosidiiig Olaims — 

Back interest unpaid and other ackaowiedged claims 1,540,.=)60 

. , Various reclamations 1,278,000 



total due Spanish subjects June 30, 1SC2 $9,4(50,980 

To Frf.nrh Subjects. 
Funded Debt— 

Balnnt-e of convention debt $190,000 

IVniding Claims— 

To Juan B. Jeektr, for capital expended in his scandalous claim, and interest 1,984,000 

Other claims. 6S5,91T 

Total debt due to French subjects $2,859,917 

UKOAriTULATION. 

Debt due to English subjects $69,311,650 

Debt due to Spanish subjects 9.460,980 

Debt due to French suLijects 2,S69,91T 

Total foreign debt as recognized in 18S2 $S1,632,56J 

AKNUAL INTEREST. 

Debt. Per CenL Interest 

■Oii debt contracted in London $51,'20S,25O S $1,536,247 

On English convention debt 4,175,000 6 2.50.500 

<:hiother English claims, if capitalized 13,928,407 3 517,852 

On Spanish convention debt 0,033 423 a 199,002 

•On other Spanish claims, if capitalized 2 ,827.563 8 84,829 

>On French claims, if capitalized 2,859,917 "» 171,59& 

• Total debt $81,6,32,560 

■ ■■ Total interest to Englisii creditors .-.$8,304,599 

Total interest to Spanish creditors 283,829 

Total interest to French creditors 171,595 



Total annual interest $2,760,022 

iAl<rNUAX, EXPENDITURES OF THE GOVERNMENT OP THE EEPUBLIC, AS ESTAB- 
LISHED BT li-AW OF C0NGKE3S AUSU3T 16, 1861. 

Interest on the foreign debt $2,760,020 

For foreign relations. h $210,340 

For home departments 1 ,798,059 

Forfinance .1.573.624 , 

For war 4,745,39S- 8,327,418 

Total annual expenditures of the national goyeniment $11,087,433 

The interior debt of Mexico ha.s been entirely extinguished by sale* 
of church property. 



54 M E X I O O , A N D T 11 E 

DEBT WHICH THE FRENCH INTERVENTION SEEKS TO IMPOSE UPON MEXICO. 

Indebtedness acknowledged to France by Maximilian for the expenses of the inter- 
vention to July 1, 1864, 270,000,000 francs, or $5",000,0(i0, of which $10,OUO,OOI) 
were paid out of the first loan and the balance funded at 3 per cent., viz $40,000,008' 

First loan put out for account of Maximilian. 210,000,000 francs, at G per cent, interest, 40,000,000 

To pay France the above $1O,O0O,(:OO, or 54,600,1 00 francs, and 18,000.000 francs more 
on account of reclamiitions to French subjects, farther bonds fas an additional 
loan) were put in circulation, to the amount of 1 10,0oo,0( o francs, at 6 per cent 20,3T0,3T0 

Second loan put out for account of Maximilian in Paris, being the Lottery loan, of two 
series of bonds at 6 per cent, interest, amounting to 500,000,000 francs, negotiated 
at 340 92,592,598 



Total debt recognized by Maximiiian in favor of France $192,t;62,960 

The debt in favor of France, as recognized by the constitutional government, is 2,8-59,917 

Amount that Maximilian desires to augment the debt to France $190,103,040 

The debt to English subjects remains the same under Maximilian as 
before, the back interest only having been capitalized. 

The debt to Spanish subjects remains as before, the interest unpaid. 

ANNUAIi INTEREST UNDER MAXIMILIAN. 

Debt. Per Cent. Interest. 
On the debt to the French government for part of the cost of 

intervention $40,000,000 3 ,$1,200,00»- 

Oa the first loan ■ 40,000,000 « 2,409,000 

On additional amount issued to pay French government and 

claims 20,370,370 6 1,222,222 

On second loan put out in Paris, or Lottery loan 92,592,592 (> f>,555,655 



Total annual interest on French claims under Maximilian $10,377,777 

Interest on debt due to Bnghsh subjects, same as under the constitutional government. 2,-^04,599 
On debt due to Spanish subjects, same as under the constitutional government ' 283,828 



Total annual interest on the foreign debt under Maximilian $12,966,204 

ANNUAL EXPENDITURES OP THE SO-CALLED GOVERNMENT OF MAXIMILIAN. 

Interest on his foreign debt (of which interest $10,377,777 is to France) $12,966,204 

Annual cost of his lottery scheme in Paris 1,391,237 

Personal expenses and civil list of Maximilian, $10,500 per day fpaid daily) 3,832,600 

25,000,000 francs per annum on account of expenses of French contingent, according to 

treaty of Mir«m«r 4,029,629 

400,000 francs per voyage subvention to the French line of transport steamers from St. 

Nazaire 888,888 

Ministers, legation.?, consulates, agents, employes, pensions, gifts, traveling expenses, 

military and civil expenses and charges of his foreign armed force 26,220,868 



Total annual expenses under Maximilian $49,929,32fi 

COMPARISONS. 

Foreign debt as attempted to be recognized by Maximilian $271,735,605 

Foreign debt as recognized by the. constitutional government 81,632,560 

Attempted increase by Maximilian....'. i $190,103,045 

Annual interest required to be paid by Maximilian $12,966,204 

Annual interest under the government of the republic 2,760,022 

Attempted increase by Maximilian $10,206,182 

Annual expenditures under Maximilian $49,929,326- 

Annual expenses as fixed by the national congress under the republic 11,087,440 



Annual increase under Maximilian. $38,841,886 

Annual salary of Maximilian, so-called Emperor of Mexico $l,500,00o 

Annual salary of the President of the Republic 30,000 

Since the foregoing tables were made out it has become known that, 
in addition to the $150,000,000 therein set down as the amount of the- 
public loans put out for Maximihan in France, and taken by French 
subjects, and for Avhich Louis Napoleon is morally responsible, there 
have been expended from the public revenues of France, up to the end: 
of the year 1865, in this attempt to propagate monarchial institutions 
on the American continent, $150,000,000 more. Three hundred mil- 
lions of dollars, therefore, is the amount which Louis Napoleon will 
have to acknowledge he has lost to France whenever he abandons his 
Mexican experiment and withdraws Maximilian from Mexico. 

The vigorous attack of Monsieur Thiei's placed the government in 



8 O 1. 1 1) A R I T Y <) K N A T IONS- 55 

a state of great embarrasments. What could be said in reply to the 
eloquence of his figures ? The minister, president of the Council 
of State, contented himself with pleading extenuating circumstances. 
" The task is difficult, but we must not be discouraged. We have 
gone to Mexico, and we desire to return, but it would be awkward to 
hurry on the moment, and give, to a great national enterprise, the 
character of a giddy act." 

Is it not confessing when you seek to hide "? Wliat more Sad and 
complete avowal could there be than this ? 

Further on, the minister expresses astonishment, and plays the part, 
of ingenuousness: "'This Mexican question is really something 
strange. The government endeavors to give it a reasonable, pacifie, 
honorable solution, in conformity with our interests (the expression is a 
fine one!) and it seems that every day fresh difficulties arise." 

'' Instead of helping us, you talk only of ruin and disaster. But to 
exaggerate the evil, is to render it more painful and foi'midable still. 
Let us have confidence ; that confidence will be the best clement of i« 
solution in conformity with our interests as well as those of Mexico, 
and the honor of France." 

What a difference between this language and the pompous eloquence 
of the preceding year. The brilliant and deceitful mirage, the golden 
horizon, had disappeared ; the South had been subjugated by the 
North, Juarez, arms in hand, with heroic obstinacy, persisted in up- 
holding the majesty of right, liberty and law ; the situation was a bad 
one. Monsieur Rouher admits it, he wishes to emerge from it, and, to 
aiTive at that aim, finds no words other than a vain appeal to fatality 
and to national confidence. In the confusion of his ideas, he becomes 
embarrassed, his words are incoherent, he contradicts himself, and in 
the same paragraph, without preceiving it, he recognises that the Mex- 
ican expedition was a giddy act, and calls it a national, meaning, an 
imperial enterprise. 

Gamier Pages, with great good sense, quotes the example of Bel- 
gium : "In Belgium, on the occasion of a struggle, over which the 
Belgians sigh and groan, the minister of war made haste to declai'e 
that there was no Belgian batallion in Mexico, but volunteers maJcing 
use of their liberty. I recommend this precedent to the Fenians and 
American volunteers who desire to avenge republican institutions in 
Mexico. Garnier Pages continues : " And should the French gov- 
ernment, which is solemnly engaged, as regards the House and country, 
think itself bound as to the Emperor Maximilian"? Should it 
beheve itself obliged to create another Algiers at 6,000 leagues from 
France % Who has bound it to an Austrian prince ? The duty of the 
government is to release and recall its troops." 

This, in fact, is what the government wished, as Monsieur Rouher 
confesses, but the difficulty was to succeed \va. obtaining this result, 
without diminishing its consideration in the eyes of France and cover- 
ing itself with ridicule before the world. 

A recognition of the Mexican empire by the American government 
would have made all clear. But what interest had we in compromis- 
ing a principle to withdraw Louis Napoleon from his difficulty ? 



56 •« K X I C O , A N 1> r H K 



CHAPTER X. 

THK REALITY. 
1866. 

. , On the 22d of January. 1806, Louis Napoleon opened the Legis- 
lative session by a speecli containing the following passage relative t» 
Mexico and America : 

*' In Mexico, the government founded by the will of the people i.s- 
being couHolidated ; the dissenters, conquerred and dispersed, have no 
longer any chief; the national troops have shown their valor, and the 
country has found guarantees of order and security, which have de- 
veloped its recourses and brought its commerce, with France alone, 
up to from 21 to 77 millions. Our expedition is drawing to a close, 
as, I, last year expressed the hope would be the case. I have come to 
an understanding with Emperor Maximilian to determine the period 
for recalling our troops, in order that their return may be eifected 
vvdthout compromising those French interests whicli we went to thai. 
. toreign clime to defend. 

,' " North America, having emerged victoriously from a formidable 
.struggle, has re-established the old Union, and solemnly proclaimed 
: tlie abolition of slavery. France which never forgets any nohl<^. page in. 
her hidorij, forms the sincerest wi^he^ for the jvospcrify of the great 
Aonerican Repuhlic, and for the maintaining of our friendly relations, 
Il0^y soon to become secular. The emotion, produced in the United 
States by the presence of our army upon the Mexican soil, will be ap- 
jjeased hy the/ranhiess of our declarations. The American nation will 
understand that our expedition, of ivhich v;^ invited il. to form a part, 
was not opposed to its interests. Two nations equally jealous of their 
independence should avoid any measures, which , would ■involve -their 
honor and dignity." ' )■■■. ■' - ?[ ■■:■■■ : ^u'r 

I have shown in chapter second, of part first, what should bfe 
thought of the guarantees of order and. security offered by the Imperial 
government, they may appear sufficient to the friends and agents of 
Louis Na,poleon, they will certainly never satisfy the mass of sensibly 
men. • -1 

As regards the promise to put a >speedy end to the exj^edition, k 
will probably be renewed in '67,; as it was in 'Go and '66. For how 
many years will this continue'? This is what can only be judged of 
by referring to the occupation of Rome. In any case, I will show 
fliat, at this moment, and in spite of the official declarations of Loui* 
Napoleon, Jules Favre felt no faith. 

The letter of the 2yd of July, to General Forey, should edify us a« 
to the sincerity of the Napoleonic good wishes for the great American 
Republic and \\\ii franhie!<^ of the declarations of the French govern- 
iuent. It the reader suffers himself to be caught thereby, after the 
YWious testimonies which I have placed before his eyes, the old pro- 
verb <^ould be justly a])plied to him : " None so deaf as he who won'j: 
5ie4Hr." On the l()th of l'\'bruary, the discussion of paragraph 7, of 



S O \. I r» A K 1 T V * ) y ■H \ '!• 1 O N' H . O ( 

the address i-ehitive to Mexico, came into tlie order of the day, at the 
.Senate. 

This paragrapli is us IbliowB : 

"• Your Majesty has announced that this memorable Mexican expe- 
dition is drawing to a close, and that you Iiave come to an understand- 
ing with Emperor Maximilian to determine the period for recalling the 
troops. That is to say, to satisfy France that the protection of her 
commercial interests will be secured u])on tliat vast and rich markei, 
-restored, by our intervention, to security. ^ 

" As for tlie United States, if, through a misunderstandins^J' tlie 
presence of the French flag upon the American continent ap]:)ears to 
them less well-timed than at another period of their very illustrious 
(history, the firm communications of our government have shown that 
it is not haughty and threatening words wliich will determine our re- 
turn. France is accustomed to march only when it suits her. [Very 
well said '] But she loves to remember her old friendship for the 
United States. What you ask of them is neutrality and the right of 
nations. Through this, they will quickly sec that a war undertaken in 
the-KO-often declared aim of ])rotecting our natives against a govern- 
.ment without loyality, does not. because it is successful, become a war 
of conquest, domineering and propaganda." [Fresh approbation.] 

These words were certanily anythind \v\t ilattei'ing to us, and de- 
cidedly bear the stamp of detiance. Nevertheless, they did not yet 
satisfy Marslial Forey, who takes up the word against their adoption. 
What this unintelligent warrioi- wishes, is a continuation of the 
i>fcriiggle of the occupation, and the sending out of Iresh troops. The 
.new Miirshal was acquainted with his master's secret I thoughts, and 
wished to pay, in flattery, for that baton de marechol which he has not 
been able to pay for in victory. What does it matter, that the minis- 
ter disavows him before the Senate 'I Louis Napoleon approves of him 
in a second letter, worthy pendant to that of 18G2 : '! ■ 

''Let it not be thought that the government which we have over- 
thrown in Mexico, was maintained by the sympathies of the popula- 
tion; no, it maintained itself by the fear which it inspired ; this is why 
it has been sufficient, in order to beat it down, that our flag sliouid be 
there, which, according to the Emperor's beautiful expresejon, every- 
where represents the cause of nations and of civilization. 

" Once delivered from the government of Juarez, the Mexican peo- 
•ple, fi'ee in the expression of its vote, has given itself to Emperor 
•Maximilian." 

Thus according to Marsiial Forey as well as according to Mon- 
sieur de L'huys, Maximilian and Napoleon, the Mexican empu'e, 
like that of France, was founded by the people's desire. If 
such is the, case, show u« the -plebiscitum which founded the 
empire, let us know its date and' text, in order that we may be able to 
f^ee the numher of the votes. You talk of the assembly of important 
.men without any legal mandate. What is that? Merely isolate, men, 
prononciamefiios, without any legal organization. But a regular plebisci- 
fum is what we defy you to show ? You are a government in fact, 
a suceessiSul attempt, pro-toriporp, like that of the 2d of December — 
•nothing more. And if these populations, oppressed by Juarez, were rer 
i&feored to liberty by you^nwhy >|i0,;you. natMWithdraw your bayoiiota, in 

I'ii- i't'M !'tl!; srl'li: f.lJ! !v!K?vr'i''t 



58 M E X I O O , A X I> T H E 

order to suffer them to enjoy your benefactions in peace while blessing 
their authors ? 

To this Marshal Forey replies : 

" According to my views, there would be greater peril in recalling 
our troops immediately. The Emperor has declared that we went to 
Mexico as a safeguard to French interests, and to defend our natives. 

"Well, then! if our Mexican army was recalled, all the French 
would be obliged to return with it, or they would be the victims of 
far worse violence than we have already Avitnessed. 

"In fine, if we have the interests of our natives- to defend, thei-e are 
still others which we should protect. 

" Is it not our duty to protect those populations which received us 
with open arms, who cried out : ' Long live Maximilian.' " Is not our 
honor involved in this ? I know that it may be said : They shouted 
'Long live Maximilian I' let them sustain him, then. 

" But let it be remembered, that they have, as yet, no confidence in 
their own strength, that they have been demoralized by the authorities- 
which oppress them and take advantage of them. They must be al- 
lowed time to take courage and gain strength ; our support must be 
continued ; we must aid them to sustain the power they have placed 
over themselves. 

"France does not wish to incur the reproach of not having compre- 
hended the great idea of the Emperor ; she will not wish to leave these 
unfortunate populations to the fury of their former oppressors. 

" At the first news of our retreat, the abettors of discord will re- 
awaken, the banditti, who are now put to flight, will rally around the 
flag of Juarez, and the Mexicans themselves will have to suffer from 
those barbarous hordes who have shown what they are in atrocity." 

In Marshal Forey's eyes, the defenders of Puebla only tought 
through fear ; had they been suffered to be free they would all have 
come to the liberating array. 

" At Puebla they would have deserted in a mass, had they not been 
unceasingly watched by their chiefs, who obliged them to fight by 
shutting them up in chm'ches and convents without leaving them any 
issue ; the same was the case at Oajac^. 

" Let not the army of Juarez be called a national army." 

General Lorencez might give precious information in this regard. 

During all time, the military of France have been considered the 
first in their profession, and tlie last in every thing else. The Mar- 
shal certainly thought he would foi'm an exception to this rule, and pro- 
duce an argument without reply, in the following paragraph : 

" It is not my place to treat the question of the relations between 
France and the United States. But, it is permitted me to say that 
I have too much esteem for the great American Republic, to believe 
that it would prefer to see in Mexico a republic formed of despoilers 
and of banditti, in place of a monarchy formed oi honest iiien, and 
founded upon the principles of civilization. [Approbation from some 
benches.]" 

The proposition might, a la rigueur be discussed, after having an 
understanding however, as to the value of words. What are honest 
men? In 1848, I remember the honest and moderate men of the 
Hue de Poitiers. Bonaparte and Republicans were the despoilers and 



SOLIDARITY OF NATIONS. 59' 

robbers. After the coup d' etat, the Bonapartists became the honest 
men, par excellence. The honest men of the Rue de Poitiers were 
suspected. As for the Repitbhcans, they were naturally called des- 
poilers and robbers. Here the roles change. The legal, universal prmci- 
ple of the governments upon this continent is the republican principle. 
Then we must call the republicans honest men, and the royalists des- 
poil ers and banditti. Marshal Forey, consequently, will agree that 
the signification of the words " honest men " varies according to eon- 
tinents and times, and that in his speech he confounds America and 
Europe ; a mere geographical error I And, as in all things a conclus- 
ion is necessary, the illustrious Marshal concludes thus : 

' ' New troops must perhaps be sent to Mexico. [Murmurs.] Those 
now there must, at all events, be kept there. Some fresh sacrifices in- 
money must be made. [Murmurs.] 

" It was said once, that France was rich enough to pay for her 
glory ; will it not then be a glorious thing for us not to leave unfinish- 
ed that task which we have undertaken upon distant shores ? 

" Money, certainly, has its importance. [A noise.] But, for the 
sake of a sum of money, must the success of this enterprise, based 
upon a great idea of the Emperor, be compromised '? No, gentlemen, 
this ought not to be ? And this is why France applauded the sover- 
eign's language, this is Avhy it will associate itself with the sentiments 
which your plan of address so proudly^sets forth. [A few voices : 
Very well said !] " 

The Minister of State — " The Senate understands that it is not my 
intention to reply to the honorable Marshal's discourse. He has be- 
sides taken care to show, that he only spoke under the impression oT 
personal opinion. 

"As for the opinion of the government it has not been modified by 
the words you have just heard. It remains, such as it was, set forth 
in the speech from the throne and in the paragraph of the address that 
you are called to vote." [General mark of approbation.] 

Paragrajjh 7 is put to vote and adopted. 

The Senator-Secretary reads paragraph 8, with reference to the 
United States. 

It is put to vote and adopted. 

The Emperor made haste to write a private letter of approbation to 
the Marshall, in order to destroy, with regard to the army, the disast- 
rous impression, made by his ofiicial disavowal. He even went fur- 
ther, and replied to the vote of address by these words : 
"Senators, 

" The address of the Senate is an eloquent comment- 
ary upon my speech ; it develops what I have only indicated ; it ex- 
plains all that I wished to cause to be comprehended." 

Then, there again, besides the ostensible text, there was as in the 
Convention of the 31st of October, a secret thought, a thought which 
had only been indicated, which the Senate understood, and upon 
which its speech was an " eloquent commentary." Now, this thought, 
to judge from Forey's speech and the applause of the Senate, is con- 
tained in this phrase : " The firm communications of your government 
have shown that it is not lofty and threatening words which will de-^ 
terraine our return. France is in the habit of marching only at her 
own hour.''* [Lively applause.] 



•?30 M K X.I C O , V N n T H K 

And thaj hour appears not to have arrived, a few weekrs ago ; for 
reinforcements were sent to Mexico, instead of troops beinif re- 
-called. . 

It is true that if the Senate of France — of which the members, 
thanks to their age, or their functions, have a right to the indulgence 
of m.au — seems to have lost its memory and perception, the Legisla- 
tive House, which is younger, has clearer judgment, apparently, as 
to the present and the future. Its plan of address is conceived as 
follows : 

'* Our expedition to Mexico is drawing to a close. The country has 
received this assurance with satisfaction. Led iflto Mexico by the im- 
perative duty of protecting our natives against odious violence, and 
pursuing the redress of only two legitmate griefs, our soldiers and sail- 
ors have worthily fulfilled . the task ^that your Majesty confided to 
their devotion. This expedition has once more shown, in a foreign 
country, the power and disinterestedness of France. [Very well said!] 
The people of the United States, who have long known the loyalty of 
our i^olicy, and the sympathy which it feels as of old, has no cause to 
take exception at the presence of our troops upon the Mexican soil. 
To wish to make their recall subordinate, to other convenience than 
ours, would be doing injury to our intersts and to our honor. [Applause.] 
You have the guardianship of them, sire, and the Legislative Corps knows 
that you will watch over them with a solicitude worthy of France and 
of your name." [Very well said!] 

The same mania for rhodomontade, though better disguised, is 
evident here, as well as in the Senate's address. 

Poor men ! if we carried on a tariff war upon the people of Franee, 
the true, the only people, those who produce, and whom you grind 
down, would force you to quicken your pace, and hasten that of Louis 
iNapoleoh, whatever may be his usual habits and yours. Besides, the 
withdrawing of the troops, amassed by Louis Napoleon and his gov- 
ernment, only rests upon his word. There is not a being, however 
innocent, who, with the history of the last eighteen years in hand, 
can fail to know how much that is worth. Shall Ave be more confid- 
ing than Jules Favre ? His speech, during the session of the 13th of 
June, to the Legislative Corps, is as follows : 

" The government has, nevertheless, been under the painful necess- 
ity of accepting this document and of declaring, in presence of the 
injunctions it contains, that we ought to quit Mexico. And, at th6 
last moment, there have been sudden revelations, imexpectedly made 
as to this Mexican question, v/hich light up the ensemble of the situa" 
tion, and cause it to assume a very different aspect from that given it 
-heretofore. In effect, since the expedition began, it has been unceas- 
ingly predicted, not only that our arms would succeed, but that the 
enterprise would be successful in a political point of view. If the 
adhesion of the House has been obtained, it has been because it has 
never been told the truth. [Interuption.] I do not wish to imdertake, 
with regard to this matter, an examination which I have declared ill 
timed. 

" It will come in on another occasion. I content myself to-day 
with interrogating facts, such as they are shown by the official decla- 
tatidn^i' which we wave been acquainted with for some tittie' paj^t, and 



SOI. IDAEITT OK NATIOJfS. 61 

wish to go back to last year. At this period, it was said in aiis\ve\' to 
our reproaches, that the pohcy M'hich we attacked was superior to our 
own views. The fairest gem of the crown of the Empire Avas to be 
this expedition. The star of France was to radiate over the Americ^D 
(;ontinent. History was one day to say : 

'* It was a man of genius who, in spite of resistance, obstacles 
and hesitations, had the courage to open a new source of prosperity 
to the nation of Avhich he was the chief He Avas the apostle of a 
bold, but wise and farsighted policy, which did not limit its views to 
the present generation; he ^understood his own time and the future, 
and saw that European equilibrium now embraces the entire world, and 
that there is no interest which, even to the limits of the world, should 
fail to be the object of solicitude of France." 

''Such was the historical passage written by the bold and sincere 
hand of the Minister of State. At the beginning of our labours the 
Emperor himself declared that the new throne was being consolidated 
in Mexico, that the country was becoming pacified, and the expose 
of the situation of the empire, by confirming these declarations, also 
(jaused it to appear that Maximilian was preparing an era of peace 
and prosperity for his own country." 

It is true that this concert of praise was disturbed by the autliorized 
word of the warrior, who had led our victorious legions, in that 
country : " Everything has to be done afresh, in Mexico," said he, 
in the discussion of the address on the 11th of March, 1865, "moral 
sense is perverted there, there is no longer any administeration, justice, 
army or national spirit. There is nothing. But this is not the lault 
of the nation. It still has Castilian feelings, and there is no cause 
Avhatever for despairing as to this country." 

Such were the "extenuating circumstances" granted to that country, 
where there was nothing leftl 

" The question presented itself thus in 1865. At thi.s period, how- 
ever, there was a shade upon the j)icture — the financial question. If 
Mexico had accepted Maximilian upon the throne with enthusiasm. 
that enthusiasm was very costly, for, in 1864, 150,000,000 were swal- 
lowed up, and 250,000,000 more were demanded, under scandalous 
:uid onerous circumstances, a^ will be remembered. 
_^'' At this moment, one of our colleagues, whose situation Avas ex- 
ceptional, arose. He had received from government a mission which 
he had loyally accomplished. He knew Mexico better than Ave, and. 
his word fell upon the majority like a sort of dew Avhich had descend- 
ed to calm all things after a stifling heat. [Laughter.] 
"Distrust then seemed unjust and culpable." 

•'• This took place in April, 1865. During this year, the Momteia^, 
every fortnigiit, published, not ofiicial documents, which we have un- 
ceasingly asked for, Avithout obtaining them, but a periodical resume of 
the situation : which re.sume constantly repeated ' All is peaceable,' 
and stated that Avherever our troops were not placed, there were dis- 
senters to be pursued. 

"All these bulletins were, for a moment, eftaced by a fresh state- 
ment : Juarez has quitted Mexico I he has yielded to the national 
will! The Emperor Maximilian has no competitor! How does >e 
.sanctify this definitive possebsion of his authority ? He announces, by 



s62 M E X 1 C O , A N 1) T H E 

a decree, that whoever resists his government shall be placed beyond 
the law, treated as a robber and dealt with by arms ? 

"These statements, pomijously made by the official paper, were 
false, except, unfortunately, the decree of Maximilian. 

" The country had not ceased to be occupied by the dissenters, for, 
on the 16th of November, Marshal Bazaine wrote to the general-in- 
chief of the Juarist center, to ask him to exchange prisoners. 

"The struggle still lasted, then; but the loan had been contracted, 
the money had left the epargne des families to be ^engulfed in the 
Mexican disaster. 

" The situation was a singular one ! In November, 1865, 265,- 
000,000 had been subscribed, thanks to the attraction of the lottery, 
which was held up to dazzle the eyes of poor families, and our natives 
had not yet been indemnified for the losses Avhich had been the pri- 
mary cause of the expedition. The figure of their reclamations, veri- 
fied and accepted by Mexico, amounted to 750,000,000 francs, and in 
November, 1865, nothing was settled, except, perhaps, the scandalous 
afiairs of the Jecker bonds, Avhich was the principal preoccupation of 
those engaged in the traffic." [A noise.] 

M. Rouher, minister of State — "You should not make use of your 
4alent to propagate such a calumny." [Very well said.] 

Monsieur Jules Favre — ' 'In the months of September and November, 
1865, the indemnities of our natives were at last fixed at a sura of 
40,000,000; but did they receive these 40,000,000'? They are not yet 
in their hands; they are millions in paper in an empty cash-box." 

"In a dispatch of the 28th of December, 1865, our charge d' 
affaires in Mexico spoke of resistance opj^osed to Emperor Maximilian 
in the payment of these debts. ' But I have been so pressing,' he 
adds, ' that I gained the cause the next day. I declared that it was to 
put the Emperor Napoleon III and his government in a situation to 
-declare to the French Houses that this affair is settled.' 

" Your control, gentlemen, is something, then, at least in the eyes of 
our charge cV affaires in Mexico. 

" Thus 40,000,000 have been allotted to our natives. In a dispatch 
of the 15th of January, 1866, the minister of foreign affairs in France 
expresses the ill-humor which such a reduction in the verified reclama- 
tions of our natives causes hini to feel. He, nevertheless, engages Mr. 
Dano not to show himself too exacting toward a creditor who is in an 
alarming state. He adds that any new appeal to the credit would be 
fruitless, that we cannot take to our exclusive account the expenses of 
the Mexican government, provide by our army for its defense, and by 
our finances for its administrative services. Thus, in place of the con- 
-currence which we had a right to expect from Emperor Maximilian, 
400,000,000 of French money have been swallowed up by this ruin- 
ous sovereignty, which we have been obliged to sustain by our blood, 
and which still asks us to pay ibr its army and internal administration, 
under penalty of 'vanishing into thin air!' 

"A dispatch of the 15th of January, 1866, says that the Convention 
of Miramar has been torn to pieces. By whom? By Emperor Max- 
imilian himself Thus this man, Avhose imperial probity (as well as his 
political solidity) were vaunted, breaks his word ! ' It would be super- 
liuous,' says the same dispatch, 'to seek to-day for the causes of a sit- 



8 O L I I> A R I T T OF NATIONS. 63 

uation that ray duty aloue obliges uie to speak of.' And we also said 
the same things, and when we said them you interrupted us with your 
murmurs. Now you listen to them because it is the minister who says 
them, for the minister has come to us. [Interruption.] 

"Public opinion has declared itself, and it is fortunate that it is en- 
lightened, for you would still take millions. from us to throw them away 
in foreign parts !" [Prolonged interruption.] 

Numerous voices — "Order, order! Such language cannot be toler- 
ated!" 

Count Caffarelli— '■ The Legislative Corps is not to be thus insulted." 

President Walewski — "Monsieur Jules Favre, you give way to ac- 
cusations that are to be regretted, and you choose a bad moment for 
inaking them, as you attest the frankness of the government yourself 
by the quotations Avhich you make from its own documents." [Lively 
applause.] 

Monsieur Glais-Bizoin — "That frankness is enforced now." [Noise.] 

Monsieur Jules Favre — " These things are not new ; this embarrass- 
ment has long been known, and the situation has been uuder.stood to 
'be bad for a long time. It dates from the period of the loans, through 
which it was hoped to provide for it ; and it was in the interest of 
these loans that the seductive pictures to which I have alluded were 
placed before the country. Except there Avas blindness, it was impos- 
sible not to see that we would have to struggle in Mexico against inex- 
Jbricable difficulties. I know not what secret designs must have existed 
to cause a veil to be thrown over the trutli. It was, in reality, a money 
affair, into which our country was to be dragged, and it is the gold of 
France that was to be obtained. [Fresh interruption.] The Honor- 
able M. Corta has said : 'What is necessary for the regeneration of 
Mexico? A regular government and time.' 

"And he represented Maximilian appearing to the Indians of Mexico 
like the promised man from the East, the man with golden hair and 
azure eyes, who was to be welcomed like a liberator. [Laughter around 
the orator.] He said that the budget of Mexico, such as it was offered 
to the Council of State, only amounted to 150,000,000, including the 
service of the debt. And the minister of state, adding the authority of 
his own word to the testimony of our colleague, said : ' Did not the 
speech of M. Corta determine the House?' And you, gentlemen, who 
do not know Mexico, exclaimed, 'Yes, yes!' 'Do not be anxious,' 
continued the minister of state.' Scarcely a year has passed — we now 
see a complete change of scene. Instead of a prince disposing of a 
flourishing budget, w^e only see a prince obliged to ask for help. I 
will say no more." 

A voice — " What more have you to say." 

Monsieur Jules Favre — " Let the dispatch of the 15th of January 
from the minister of foreign affairs be compared with the words by 
which it was sought to facilitate the loans to Mexico. You told us 
then that we ran no risk, and, by your own avowal, we find you are 
now in presence of an empty treasury, of an unpaid array, of an ad- 
ministration Avhich is giving way . under the insolvency of its mon- 
arch, who has been lauded by you. [Fresh interruption.] 

'"With energy and courage, with a firm and well-sustained will,' 
said the minister of foreign affairs, ' the Mexican empire c^n triumph 



f, i *! E X I C O , AND T H K 

over the difficulties which it encounters upon its way ; but success i^^^ ' 
only to be had at that price.' ''^'^■ 

'•In presence of a situation such as is unveiled to us, is such a rem- 
edy sufficient *? 

'' The government now desires the return of our troops ; we also de- 
sire it, and more than the government does ; but we do not think the 
mode of withdrawal which it has adopted is good, and we have been 
HO greatly deceived that we are still distrustful. [Noise.] ?■ ' 

" 'The evacuation,' says the minister of foreign affah's, in a dispatcli 
to Mr. Seward, dated 6tli of April, 1866, 'is to be effected in three de- 
tachments: the first in November, 1866, the second in March, 1867, 
and the third in November of the same year.' 

" The resolution to depart is excellent, without doubt — it can only 
be approved; but what may it not be permitted to doubt when thereH'- 
cent publications of the Moniteur are considered? 

" Let it be as it may. when the situation shall be completely free, a 
definitive debate should take place in this circle, where our honorable- 
contradictors will hear something very different." 

Monsieur Granier de Cassagnac — "We will hear and reply." 

Monsieur Jules Favre — *' For the present I merely borrow one more 
passage from the bulletins capi'iciousiy reproduced by the Moniteur in 
that of the 9th of June, 1866. According to this bulletin — the last we 
iiave — the Mexican General Mendez is carrying on his operations upon 
the Michoacan, and everything causes hopes to be entertained that he 
will succeed in restoring tranquility in that province. Marshal Bazaine 
is bringing General Aymard's and Colonel Glinchant's columns toward 
the north. General Douay is operating upon another point. Our 
lroo[)S, then, are not withdrawing, they are felling back. [Exclama- 
tions.] Only those unacquainted with Mexico could say that to send 
troops tow.'^rd the north, is to direct them upon Mexico and Vera' 
Cruz. What, then, is the interest at stake, and why these new expe- 
ditions 1 Is it in favor of a prince discredited by you, and whom yon 
declare that you no longer wish to sustain? That is the questioc 
which I address to the minister of state." 



CHAPTEK XI 



DIPLOMATIC COlUiKSrONDKNOK. 



Thk dipolmatic correspondence exchanged .between Monsieui« 
Drouyn de L'huys and Mr. Seward from the 6th of December, 1865. to 
the month of February, 1866, has not, in my eyes, that importance 
attached to it generally. If, on the side of France, Louis Napoleon 
and his minister can, without cx^nsulting tlie country, speak and act in 
its name, even against its wishes and interests, the same is not the 
case in America ; and even were Mr. Johnson and Mr. Seward dis-'*- 
posed to hold the dignity, interests and will of the American nation 

' several letters from Mr. Seward, having been recoh'ed from Frauc^, lu French, may, having. 
l>een tr.uif<hu*(l, differ a-s to the drawitis np, lint not to th>r wusf. 



S O I. I O A U I T y O F NATIONS. 65 

•cheaply, there is a Congress and there are elections, to call them back to 
the obedience and fidelity which every servant owes to his employer. 
More than this, if Mr. Seward found in the recourses of his imagina- 
tion a fertile resource — the means of momentarily directing the atten- 
tion of the public from their true interests, in three years the people 
would send other men, to cause another policy to prevail, and while Mr. 
Seward would wash his hands of the matter. The French government 
would find itself to be contending Avith the same difficulties in an 
aggravated form. 

It is with the national feeling, therefore, that Louis Napoleon is 
obliged to treat ; and Mr. Seward is only the letter-box of the Ameri- 
can nation. 

On the Gth of December, 18C5, Mr^ Seward communicates to Mon- 
sieur Month olon a dispatch, sent to our minister to Paris, in reply to 
that of the 20th of November, from the minister of France. The foU 
lovring passage occurs in it : -> 

" The views of the Emperor may, I think, be summed up as follows : 
"France is fully disposed to evacuate Mexico as soon as possible, but cannot do 
so with propriety without having received the assurance of sentiments of tolerance, 
if not of friendship, on the part of the United States towards the empire of Mex- 
ico. While thanking His Majesty for his kind feelings, the President regreta to 
say that he considers the Emperor's demand as entirely impracticable." 

Further on : : . 

"The true reason for the demonstration of the United States is, that by inva- 
ding Mexico, the French army attacks a republican government, profoundly synii- 
j)athetic to the United States, and chosen by the nation, and replaces it by a 
monarchy, which, so long as it exists, will be regarded as a tlu'eat to our own 
republican institutions." 

After having declared that the United States do not wisii to make 
any republican propaganda in Europe, and that, in consequence, they 
have a right to demand that Europe shall not come to make any mon- 
archial propaganda in America, Mr. Seward concludes thus : 

" After having thus frankly exposed our situation, I leave the question to the 
judgTuent of France, and am convinced that great nation will find it to be com- 
patible with its honor and interests to withdraw 'fts trooj^s from Mexico, with a 
suitable delay, and to leave the Mexicans to the free enjoyment of the republican 
government which they had chosen themselves, and to which, in our opinion, they 
had given decisive and touching proofs of attachment." 

The dispatch of the IGth of December, from the same to the same, 
constitutionally establishes the ground of the debate. 

" The executive department of this government is not the only one that 
is interested in the question of knowing whether the present state of affau's is 
to continue in Mexico. This interest is national also, and at all events the Congress 
now sitting is authorized by the Constitution to direct, hy a law, the action of the 
United States on this important question." 

Thus it is for Congress to determine, by a law, that policy which the 
United States will follow in this question. Mr. Seward, nevertheless, 
continues to expose the views of the American people with firmness 
-and dignity. 

" The President's design was to inform France respectfully, first, that the United 
States warmly desire to continue to cultivate relations of sincere friendship with 
France ; secondly, that this pohcy would be placed in imminent danger if France 
looked upon it as incompatible -svith her interests and honor to renounce the con- 
tinuation of an armed intervention in Mexico, an intervention intended to over- 
throw the republican government existing there, and to establish upon its ruins 

5 • ■ ■ '\ oot)hv/ 



66 MEXICO, AND THE 

that foreign monaicliy wliicla an attempt has been made to inaugurate at the capl- 
ital of the coimtry. 

" In reply to this exposition of our views, Monsieur Drouyn de Lhuys has 
made the suggestion to you that the government of the United States might per- 
haps favor the desire expressed by the Emperor to withdraw from Mexico, by 
giving him some formal assurance that, in case he recalls his troops, the Washing- 
ton Cabinet would recognize Maximilian in Mexico, as being, de facto, a political 
power. 

" My desire, in drBwing up dispatch Number 300, was to express, in the name 
of the United States, the opinion that this idea of recognition thus suggested by 
the Emperor could not be accepted, and to expose, as an explanation, the motives 
upon which this decision is founded. I have weighed, with care, the arguments 
against this decision which have been presented to you by Monsieur Drouyn de 
Lhuys in the interview which has been spoken of, and I find no sufficient reasons 
for modifying the views expressed by the United States. 

" The only thing now remaining to be done, is to inform MonsieurJDrouyn de 
Lhuys, of my i)rofound regret that, in a conversation with you, he should have 
left the subject in a condition which does not, in the least, allow us to hope for 
the conclusion of a satisfactory agreement upon any of the foundations which 
have been presented up to the present time. I am, etc., 

John Bigelow, Esquire. W. H. SEWARD," 

While Mr. Seward's correspondence reveals, in what I have quoted, 
that moderation, firmness and dignity which are suited to a nation free, 
strong, and capable of putting a million-and-a-half of men afoot when 
it wishes, that of Monsieur de Lhuys, as we shall see, is arrogant and 
liypocritical, and hides impotence under verbiage, having recourse to 
falsehood to avoid apology. 

THE MINISTER OF FOKEIGN AFFAIRS TO THE MINISTER OF FRANCE, IN WASHINGTON- 
PARIS, December 26, 1865. 
Mt Lord Marquis — I have read with interest the message that His Excellency, 
President Johnson, has addressed to the United States Congress, and of which 
you have sent me a copy. My attention has been more especially directed to those 
parts of that document which might relate to the questions interesting, at once, 
to the cabinet of Washington and our own. Mr. Johnson, in a passage wJiicJi 
seems to allude to our expedition to Mexico, gives himself up to considerations (which 
it is not befitting for me to discuss here,) upon the vicissitudes of monarchial and 
republican institutions in the two hemispheres. I would simply observe to you 
that the pursuit of the redress of o\ir griefs against Mexico has no connection, 
in that country, with the question of its fonn of government, nor could it depend 
upon a geographical question." 

Whoever is not acquainted with i\\e finesses of the French language 
would pass by the following phrase without remark : " Mr. Johnson, in 
a passage which seems to allude to our expedition to Mexico, gives him- 
ielf up to considerations tvhich it is not befitting that I shonld discuss 
here,'" &c. But, to a Frenchman, or in the eyes of any man familiar 
with the language, or the habits of French society, the President of 
the United States is treated as the Marquis formerly treated the 
croquants par dessous la jamhe. Neither Mr. Bigelow, nor Mr. Seward 
is capable of understanding the scornful irony of this language. 

Mr. Drouyn de Lhuys continues : 

" If, at the moment Avhen we exact for our natives just reparation, the power 
which refu8«d it to us had been a monarchy, that circumstance would certainly 
not have prevented us from claiming our right, and whatever part of the world 
that nation had inhabited, which had injured French interests, the protection of 
the Emperor, due to all his subjects, would have been legitimately extended ; in 
like manner, I cannot think that the first magistrate of the United States can 
have had the intention to awalien doubt as to ideas so evident." 

All that precedes was written for France ; what follows is addressed 



S O I- I D A K 1 T Y O F N A T IONS. 67 

to the United States. After the rhotomontade comes the shrinking 
back. 

"The soma passage of the Presidential manifesto speaks of "provocation,'' ^ 
which ^YOuld oblige the American nation to defend republiconism against forgign 
intervention. It speaks of ' designs hostile to the United States,' and finally of 
" digression on the part of European powers." We cannot feel that these expres- 
sions touch us, for they in nowise apply to the policy Ave have followed. It would 
be superfluous to remind you that the feelings of constant friendsldp shown ly the 
Emperor toicard the United States exclude every hypothesis of a provocation or 
aggression on our part. As for threatening the form of government which that 
country has bestowed upon itself, and which France itself contributed in founding, 
at the cost of its blood, nothing can be more foreign than such an enterprise to 
tradition and the principles of the imperial government." 

The minister of France is jesting, of course, when he speaks of its 
being superfluous to recall the aentitnents of constant friendship shown by 
the Emperor loicard the United States, &c., &c. Nothing indeed could 
be more siiperfuovs, after the letter of the 23d July to General Forey, 
turning the Southern revolt to account, in order to establish a Mexican 
monarchy for the purpose of "holding the American republic in check." 

Nothing could be more superjlaons after the recognition of the South 
as belligerent. 

Nothing could be more superfluous, after the reception given to the 
Southern pirates in the French ports, and the manifest protection granted 
to Mr. Armand's iron-clad vessels. 

Nothing could be more superfluous, after the reiterated attempts 
of Louis Napoleon to draw England into a coalition with France in 
favor of the South. 

Yes, the French people, in its healtliy jjortion, have remained faith- 
ful to the traditions of friendship with om' fathers, but Louis Napoleon's 
whole desire is to succeed ^in [dissevering and ruining — by disunion — 
the present and future strength of our great American Republic, the 
sole hope ot nations and of liberty in this world. 

England furnished the money and privateers, it is true, but she 
refused to engage her political action, and paralyzed the bad intentions 
of the French government. My own conviction is that the good she 
did us exceeds the evils Avhich she caused us. I do not thank her for 
this, but between Palmerston and Louis Napoleon all my hatred, as an 
American, is toward the latter. 

In his reply to Mr. Seward's letter, dated 9th January, 1866, Mon- 
sieur Drouyn de Lhuys continues the same mode of argumentation, 
the same series of affirmations and denials, in complete opposition to 
truth, as is shown by anterior documents, which I have reproduced in 
the course of this pamphlet. lie again repeats that the blood of France 
flowed to establish the American Republic, but he takes care not to 
add that it is not his fault if it has not flowed anew to destroy it. 

Napoleon III is, like Napoleon I, the heir to the glorious souvenu's 
of France. There is not one which he vnshes to repudiate, except that 
of liberty, which has become useless, and is admitted to be dangerous.. 
As a final proof of the ardent love of his master for the American 
Republic, Rouher exclaims : 

" Have we not maintained neutrality in the great crisis through which the 
United States has passed?" 

Without England, it is not at all probable that you would have 
maintained it. Are there not besides certain principles of public mo- 



68 M E X I C O , A N D T It E 

rality, which interdict governments from causing their people to fight 
at the will of their caprice, affection or interest, under penalty of being 
placed under the ban of nations, as private morality interdicts the indi- 
vidual from transforming himself into a cut-throat, under penalty of 
being placed under the ban of society ? Is it a title to gratitude not 
to be a criminal 1 

Further on, the overthrow of the Republic is attributed to the par-' 
tisans of the monarchy, who are numerous in Mexico. ^,^^' 

"We did not think it right to discourage this last effort of a powerful partjSy; 
the origia of which was anterior to our expedition ; but, faithful to the maxims 
of public right which are ours in common with the United States, we declared 
that this question depended exclusively upon the votes of the Mexican people." 

What can be said then of General Prim's ' letter to Admiral Jurien 
de la Graviere, and that of Louis Napoleon'? 

" The Mexican people have decided, Emperor Maximiliaii was called by the wish 
of the country. His government appearedtobeof a nature to bring back peaee into 
the interior and good faith into international relations. We granted it our support. ' ' 

Where is the plebucitum ? If the Mexican nation really decided, 
thus, show us the regular plebiscitum. Without a plehisdtum there is 
no freely expressed national will. There are coteries, conspiracies, 
pronunciamentos, crimes — nothing more. 

After having affirmed, without proving, the accordance of the nation- 
al will with the restoration of monarchy, the French miijisteir risks a 
cunning invitation to recognize the government of Maximilian ji^,, the 
price of the withdrawal of the French troops. , . 

" As we neither seek an exclusive interest, nor the realization of any ambitious 
thoughts, QUI most sincere wish is to hasten, as far as possible, that moment when ' 
we may, with security to our natives, and dignity as regards ourselves, recall 
what remains in Mexico of the corps d' ormee which we sent there. As I told you 
in the dispatch to which the communication of Mr. Seward replies, it depends 
upon the Federal government to facilitati, in that regard, the accomplishment of the 
desire which it expresses to us. As the doctrine of the United States reposes, as 
well as ours, upon the principle of the national will, there is nothing incompati- 
ble with the existence of monarchial institutions ; and President Johnson, in his 
message, like Mr. Seward in his disj)atch, repulses all idea of propaganda, even 
upon the American continent, in favor of repuUicaninstitiitions. The Cabinet of 
Washington marutains friendly relations with the court of Brazil, and did not 
refuse to enter into relations with the Mexican empire in 1822. No fundamental 
maxim, no precedent in the diplomatic history of the Union, therefore, creates any 
necessary antagonism between the United States and the re^'WftC, which, in Mexico, 
has taken the place of a power that had continually and systematically violated 
its most positive obligations towards other nations." 

Because — very wrongfully, in my opinion — we do not wish to make 
republican propaganda, it does not follow that we are to tolerate 
monarchial propaganda. As for Brazil, it is furtlier from us than even 
Europe, while Mexico is upon our frontiers ; and if, in 1822, it suited 
us to have relations with a Mexican monarch, in ] 866 it no longer suits 
us to do so. Between the two periods, and the two situations, there 
lies the same difference that exists between an enforced situation and 
an independent one, between that of 1862 and 1866, between the be- 
ginning of the Mexican expedition and its conclusion. 

" As for the support the Mexican government receives from our army, and that 
given also by the Austrian and Belgian volunteers, it does no injury, either to the 
independence of its resolutions or the perfect freedom of its acts. Where is the , 
State that does not need allies, either to constitute or defend itself? Have not great 
]X)wers, such as France and England, for example, almost constantly k»pt fore^n 



SOLIDARITY OK NATIONS. 69 

troops in their armies ? When the United States fought for their emancipation, 
(lid the aid a;iven by France to their efforts cause that great popular movement 
to be other than truly national ? And, Avill it be said that the struggle against the 
South was not also a national war, because thousands of Irish and Germans fought 
under the Union flag '?" i 

Monsieur Druyn de Lhuys is deficient in logic. There is a notable 
difference between the importance of the foreign troops maintained by 
France and Mexico in their reciprocal armies. In Fi'ance, out of an 
army of 500,000 men, the Foreign Legion numbers 4,000 men, 5,000, 
it may be said, being one hundredth. In Mexico the army numbers 
more than 30,000 foreigners out of 50,000 men, and at the moment 
when the monarchy was proclaimed numbered only foreigners. It is 
permissable to suppose that so great a mass of foreign elements in the 
Mexican army influences the destinies and decisions of the Mexican 
nation. 

When France lent its support to the establishment of American in- 
■dependeuce, the movement had began long before, and the French 
troops left the American soil before it was consolidated. Neither 
before nor after, directly or indu*ectly, did the Fi'ench troops of 
Rochambaut ever take the smallest part in the political events of the 
country. When a man is minister of the foreign affairs of France, he 
should be acquainted with history, and if he knows, he should respect 
it. If Monsieur Druyn de Lhuys had but taken this truth into con- 
sideration, he would not have committed the error of calling for- 
eigners, those Irish, German and French, who fought under the flag of 
the Union against the South ; they were naturalized, for the most part, 
and consequently were as American as W^ashington or Jefferson. 

After having promised the evacuation as a recompense of the recog- 
nition, the French minister causes the perspective of vast commercial 
issues to sparkle before our eyes. Does he mean to say that it is the 
magic virtue of the word monarchy which will sufiice to secure com- 
mercial security, or the strength of the bayonets that it employs ? As 
for one, I believe in neither ; I believe only in liberty. But Marshall 
Forey has told us that if the French bayonets were withdrawn all 
would anew be plunged 'into anarchy ; how then can he offer us that 
anarchy as an inducement to recognize the throne of Maximilian. A 
man should be logical and rational, or at least should try to appear so. 

'' Wcfind them now in the estaUisJiment of a' regular power, wMeJi shows itself 
d'lsposed to Tceep its engagements, loyally. In tliis regard, we hope, that the lawful 
aim of our expedition will soon be attained, and we endeavor to make, with Em- 
peror Maximilian, those arrangements which, by satisfying our interests and our 
dignity, allow us to consider the role of our army upon the Mexican soil as at an 
end. The Emperor has given me orders to write in this sense to his minister in 
Mexico. 

" We shall, such being the case, return to the principle of non-intervention, and, 
from the moment we accept it as a rale of conduct, our interest, no less than our 
honor, commands us to claim the equal apxilication of it from all. Confiding in 
the spirit of equity which animates the cabinet of Washington, we await from it 
the assurance that the American people will conform to the law which it invokes, 
by maintaining a strict neutrality with regard to Mexico. When you shall have 
informed me of the resolution of the Federal government on this subject, I shall 
be able to indicate to you the result of our negotiations with Emperor Maximilian 
for the return of our troops." 

The yellow book contains another correspondence between Mr. Big- 
elow and M. Drouyn De -Lhuys, with regard to the atrocious acts or- 



70 J[ E X I C O , A K D T H E 

dered by Maximilian, as regarded the prisoners of ^var, and as to tlie 
indirect establishment of slavery, in which Monsieur Dronyn De Lhuys, 
with more good sense than truth, declines all manner of responsibility 
as to the acts of Maximilian's government, and shows himself to be bet- 
ter acquainted with the English language than we are Avith the French. 
Mr Bigelow, in his letter of the 16th January, 1866, to Monsieur Drouyn 
de Lhuys, makes use of this expression, planted, in speaking of the gov- 
ernment of Maximilian established by the French government. In his 
dispatch to Monsieur de Montholon, on the 25th Jan., 1866, Monsieur 
Drouyn de Lhxiys, says: " I declare to you in the first place, that I can- 
not admit the ex'pveasion, planted, as applied to the role of the French gov- 
ernment in the events which have modified the political regime of Mex- 
ico. In reply to their correspondence, more voluminous than sensible, 
Mr. Seward replies by neutrality without recognition. Neutrality, so be 
it, we are not ina condition to undertake a foreign war within the prim- 
itive state of our mihtary science and institutions. Let us boast as 
much as we please of our victories, but do not let us renew them ; they 
cost the people too dear ; but let us make the war of tarifi", for it brings 
in and does not cause outlay. 

In 1866, the following diplomatic correspondence opened relative to 
the evacuation : 

THE MINISTER OF FRANCE, AT MEXICO, TO THE MINISTER OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS. 

Mexico, 28th December, 1865. 

"Mr. Minister — The dispatch that your Excellency has done me the honor to 
write to me, on the 14th of November last, reached me on the 13th of the present 
month. On the same day I began to take active steps in order to succeed in causing 
the convention that I have signed, to be modified, as regards the titles to be deliv- 
ered to our natives. 

" I met with lively opposition in the first place. The Emperor and Monsieur de 
Castillo declared, what is true, that the payment of obligatiens anolaguous to 
those of the second loan, instead of the titles of the first, would become more 
onerous to the Mexican treasuiy, the conversion and constitution of premium, 
having occasioned large expenses. However, I was so pressing that I succeeded 
on the morrow. I have caused it to be understood that it is necessary to place 
Emperor Napoleon and his government in a situation to declare to the French 
Houses that the affair of the reclamations is very decidedly settled. 

" In order that there should be no further doubt, and that the concession which 
I have asked for should have a very official character, I have compared notes with 
Monsieur de Castillo, on this subject. 

" The clause, in virtue of which, a sum af 35,560,000 francs, in titles of the first 
loan, at par, should be paid to us, having become impossible of execution, owing 
to the conversion, it remains determined that this sum shall be paid us in obliga 
tions of the second series, which have remained without determined employment. 

" The minister of Foreign affahs has given instructions to this effect, to the 
Mexican Minister in Paris, and the Mexican commission will deliver the obligations 
*'as soon as the convention is ratified. 

" I will, myself, wait till your Excellency has made kno^^•^ to me what changes 
nust be made in tlie dra%ving up of the conventioTi. 

Receive, etc., DANO." 

THE jnNTSTER OF I'OREIGN AFFAIRS TO THE- MINISTER OF FRANCE, IN MEXICO. 

i. . Paris, 14th January, 1866- 

,;. "Sir — The situation in which we find ourselves in Mexico cannot be prolonged, 
and the circumstances oblige us to take a definitive resolution in this regard, which 
the Emperor has commanded me to make known to you. 

" Our expedition aimed, in the first place, at pui'suing the revindication of our 
debt, and the reparation due to our natives. If, however, we had considered it 
useful to grant our concurrence to the efforts of a nation which aspired to finding 
order and well-being under a regular government, if <mr logititnate interest advised 



SOLIDARITY OF NATIONS. 71 

US to second the Prince who gave himself up to this gensroustask, it was intended 
that our cooperation should confine itself to the prescribed limits that the conven- 
tion of Miramar aimed at determining 

" Our occupation must then have a term, and we must prepare ourselves for it 
without delay. The Emperor charges you, sir, to determine it in concert with his 
august ally, after a loyal discussion, in which Marshal Bazaine is naturally called 
to take part, shall have determined the means by which, as far as passible, the se- 
curity of our debt and the claims of our natives will be secured. His Majesty 
desires that the evacuation may begin towards the coming autumn. 

" You will, sir, communicate this dispatch to His Excellency, the minister of 
foreign affairs, and give him a copy of it. I charge Baron Saillard to add, verbally, 
-all the necessary explanations, and to bring me back, in a brief delar, the reply by 
which you will make known to me the definitive arrangement that will have been 
concluded. Receive, etc.. 

Signed, DROUYN DE LHUYS." 

THE MINISTER OP POEEIGN AFFx\.IKS TO THE MINISTEE OP PRANCE, IN MEXICO. 

Paris, 15th January, 1866. 
'" Sir — I think proper to enter here into some developments in order that you may 
be completely infonued as to the subject to which my dispatch of yesterday refers. 

" The payment of our claims, such as result from the convention which you 
signed at Mexico, on the 27th September, 1865, and which has received, in its es- 
sential dispositions, the approbation of His Majesty, secures to our natives an 
acceptable reparation of the injuries they have suffered. This convention will be, 
we do not doubt, loyally executed ; thds, as to what most directly troubles us, the 
aim of our expedition will be attained, and satisfaction will be given to the griev- 
ances which have constrained us to take up arms. 

" I need not recall the considerations which had led us not to lose sight of the 
object of our expedition, hiit to profit hy it to offer to Mexico the serious chances of a 
necessary regeneration. This idea, of which we again affirm the lawfulness, the 
disinterestedness and the lofty political scope, determined the support which we 
have given to the enterprise courageously undertaken by Emperor Maximilian. 
Decided to second his efforts, we have been obliged, however, to regulate the con- 
ditions of our cooperation according to the measure of French interests, which we 
had, above all, to occupy ourselves with. The Emperor, with wise forethought, 
wished to defend his government against being carried away by a generous idea, 
by defining the nature and, in advance, limiting the extent of the concurrance 
which it was permitted us to afford 

" We were obliged, at the same time, to stipulate the equivalent resources 
which were to be attributed to us, and to fix the quota, and the falling due of 
the sums destined to defray our expenses. Such was the object of the conven- 
tion of Miramar, which was to remain the rule of om* rights and reciprocal 
duties. It would be without interest now to return to the circumstances which 
prevent the Mexican government from henceforth ^fulfilling the obligations 
which this act lays upon it, and which threaten to cause the expenses of the new 
establishment to weigh upon us without any of the promised compensation. I 
will not insist upon the observations as to this which abound in my correspoijjd- 
«nce with the Emperor's legation, and it appears to me superfluous to seek noTj^, 
in a vain discussion, for the causes of a situation that my duties obliges me only 
to state. By right, as the clauses of the bilateral contract which bound us to the 
Mexican government are not to be executed by that government, we are our- 
selves freed from the obligations which we had contracted. 

"However, sir, we should perhaps not have thought of making use of the 
faculty which the non-execution of the engagements of the treaty of Miramar 
gives us to declare ourselves freed from our own, if our resolution in that regard 
were not commanded by a consideration of a nature which does not admit of 
discussion. The Mexican government is powerless to furnish us irith the financial re- 
sources indispensable to the keeping vp of our military status, and it has even asked us, 
to take, besides, to our charge, the greater part of the expenses of its internal administra- 
tion. These embarassments are not new, and we have several times endeavored 
to provide for them by loans which have jilaced considerable sums at the disjyosal of 
Mexico. 

" Now, all fresh recourse is admitted to be impossible. What remains for us 
to do, in presence of the void which is shown to exist in the Mexican treasury, 
and the burdens which its penury casts upon us ? The provisions of our budget 



72 M K X 1 C O , A N 1) T n E 

furnish us with no means of supplying this deficit. Mexico not being able ta^ 
pay the troops which we keep upon her territory, it becomes impossible for us to 
keep them there. As for asking fresh credit of our country with this object, I 
have already explained myself with you on this head ; as I have told you, public 
opinion has pronounced^ with irrefragable authority, that the limit of sacrifices 
was rp^ched. France would refuse to add anything, and the government of the 
emperor would not ask it. 

" Far from me be the thought of ignoring the eSbrts accomplished by Emperor- 
Maximihan and by his gOTemm^it. The emperor had resolutely faced the diffi- 
culties inherent to every new establishment, and these the peculiar situation of 
Mexico rendered, perhaps, more arduous still. His impulsion has been felt every- 
where, and thoiigh it has not been given him to operate, as his good intentions 
directed, and as rapidly as he conceived them, with regard to those transforma- 
tions which the administration of the country demands, undeniable results never- 
theless attest the activity of his initiative measures. In the provinces as well as 
in the capital, wherever the emperor and the empress, who has so courageously 
associated herself with the task of her august spouse, have been able to make 
themselves personally known, the sympathetic welcome of the population testi- 
fies their confidence and the hopes which they attach to the firm establishment 
of the empire. The emperor himself has proclaimed the end of the civil war, if 
the resistance to his authority indeed deserves that name. 

"This situation, encouraging in many respects, leads me to ask whether the 
well-understood interest of Emperor Maximilian is not in accordance herein with 
the necessities which we are bound to obey. Of- all the reproaches which the 
dissenters utter in the interior, and adversaries utter without, the most danger- 
ous to a government which is being founded, is certainly that of only being 
sustained by foreign powers. "Without doubt^ the vote of the Mexicans has 
answered this imputation ; It subsists, nevertheless, and is easy to understand 
how useful it would be to the cause of the empire to withdraw this weapon from 
its adversaries. 

*'At the moment when these diverse considerations oblige us to look forward 
to the termination of our military occupation, the Emperor's government, in its 
solicitude for the glorious task in which he has taken the initiative and in his 
sympathy for Emperor Maximilian, exactly comprehends the financial situation 
of Mexico. _ This situation is serious, but it is not at all desperate. With energy and 
courage, with firm and persevering will, the Mexican empire can triumph over 
the difficulties which it meets with on its way ; but success can only be had at 
this price. This is the conviction which we have derived from the attentive and 
conscientious examinations of its obligations and resources, and you will endeavor 
to cause it to enter the minds of Emperor Maximilian and his government. 
Receive, etc., DROUYN DE LHUYS," 

TIIK MINISTER OF FRANCE, IN MEXICO. TO THE MINISTER OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS. 

Mexico, 18th January, 1866. 
" Mr. Minister — Your Excellency already knows that I have obtained from 
tMe Mexican government an agreement that we shall be paid in obligations of the 
second series of the second loan. The Mexican Legation, at Paris, has received 
the same information ; but the under-secretary of state, and of the finances has 
not yet transmitted the order to deliver us the titles which, according to him, 
"^vere not to be handed back till after the official ratification of the convention. 
The two goveriiments being in harmony as to the modifications to be made in 
it, the convention should be considered as morally ratified. Monsieur Cesar being 
at this moment absent, the Emperor has sent me a telegram from Chapultepec, in 
which he apprises me that Monsieur Langlais is empowered to give the necessary^ 
orders to the Mexican commissions of fiuauces. I have sent this telegram to the 
counsellor of state, now on a mission, who, I suppose, does not think himself in 
any way authorized to order anything, since he has no official cliaracter. 
. "However, I beg him to write to Monsieur Fould or Monsieur de Germing, 
/joining to his letter the telegram by which Emperor Maximilian expresses his 
intentions. To-morrow, I will beside endeavor, in a telegram to Monsieur de 
Castillo, to send tlie formal order to remit the titles, 

Receive, etc., DANO." 

A,,',jrHE MINI6TBR OF FRANCE, IN MEXICO, TO THE MINISTER OF FOREIGN AFFAIBS. 

* Mexico, 9th February, 1866. 

" Mr. Minister — Monsieur de Castillo has made known to me that instruc- 
tions will be sent to the commission of finances in Mexico, now at Paris, for the. 



SOLIDARITY OF NATIONS. 7S' 

payment into our bands of the 47,120 obligations of the second series, represent- 
ing the 23,560,000 francs wbich pay our indemnities. The minister of foreign 
affairs asks me, at the same time, to cause the convention of the 27tb September 
to be ratified by the Emperor of the French, to be again passed through the same 
formality by Emperor Maximilian, when he shall have made the proper modifi- 
cations in the drawing up of some of the articles. 

Eeceive, etc., DANO." 

THE MINISTER OF POKEIGN AFFAIRS TO THE MINISTER OF FRANCE, IN MEXICO. 

Paris, 16th February, 1866. 
"Sir — At the moment when I am writing this dispatch. Baron Saillard 
must have reached Mexico. The instructions of the government of the Emperor 
are then known. His Majesty, himself, has taken care, in his opening speech at 
the legislative session, to inform the great bodies of the State of his resolutions. 
I have to-day only to confirm to you the general directions, contained in my 
messages of the l-tth and 15th January, and to recommend you to make, without 
delay, the proper arrangements with the Mexican government for realizing the 
emperor's views. 

"The desire of His Majesty, as you know, is that the evacuation should begin 
towards autumn next, and that it should be completed as soon as possible. You 
will come to an understanding with Marshal Bazaiue to set the succesiive terms, 
in accordance Avitli Emperor aximilian. 

"I cannot here develop the various considerations to be kept in mind in con- 
ducting this operation ; some, of a purely military and technical character, belong 
essentially to the province of the marshal commander-in-chief; others, of a more 
political character are left to your judgment as to one and all, enlightened as it 
is by the perfect knowledge which you have of local circumstances, and the ne- 
cessities which are thereby created. 

"It is equally important, sir, to close the account of the financial situation and. 
■determine the guarantees which the security of our debt demands. The provis- 
ions of the treaty of Miramar, not being realized, other combinations must be resorted' 
to to secitre the payment of our advances, and at the ^same time provide, in the interest 
of Mexican credit, for the re.fjtdar payment of the arrears of the debt contracted by the 
^oans o/" 1864 anc/ 1865. 2-fonstour iMnfjlais tvi/l receive detailed instructions by this 
courier from the minister of finance, and will communicate them to you. You 
will be called upon to act in concert with him so as to secure their execution. 

"The government of the Emperor thinks that the combination most simple and 
least burdensome to the Mexican government would consist in the payment into otir- 
hands of the duties of Vera Cruz and Tampico, or others considered more suitable^ 
Half of the produce would be attributed to us to be devoted, a portion to the 
payment of the interestat 3 per cent, of our debt valued in capital at 250,000,000, and 
the rest as a partial guarantee of the interest due to the bearers of the titles of the ■ 
loans of 1864 and 1865. ' Administered by our care it is permitted to hope that 
these custom-houses will still furnish important resources after the taxes agreed 
upon. You wU then make the necessary arrangements with the Mexican cabinet 
for this delegation to be regularly conferred upon us. 

"This point betug settled, and French intarests thus protected, the government 
of the Emperor will nevertheless continue to testify in a very efficacious manner 
all the sympathy with which the person of the Sovereign of Mexico inspires him,, 
and which he feels as regards the generous task to which he has devoted himself. 
You wUl have the kindness, sir, to give these assurances to Emperor Maximilian 
in the name of His Majesty. DKOUYN DE LHUYS. 

THE MINISTER OF FRANCE, IN MEXICO, TO THE MINISTER OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS. 

Mexico, 9th March, 1866. 
"Mr. Minister — I have received the dispatches that your Excellency has 
done me the honor to address me, and which are dated 14th and 15th January. 

" I am about to set forth that the firm resolve of the Emperor is that the evac- 
uation shall begin towards next autumn ; I am at Emperor Maximilian's orders 
to set this term regularly, in conformity with the instructions I have received ; 
but, in the meantime, Marshal Bazaine is occupying himself with the measures- 
to be taken to secure all the interest at stake, as far as possible. 

"Your Excellency already knows the intentions of the commander-in-chief of 
the expeditionary corps. The evacuation, if begun in the coming November, 
would end during the autumn of 1867, that is to say, would be completed iu. 
eighteen months. Receive, etc, DANO." 



74 M E X I C (J , A K I> T H E 

MR. SEWARD TO THE MA3JQUIS DB ilONTHOLON. 

Department of State, Washington, Feb. 12, 1866. 

•Sir — Oq the 6th of December I had the honor to submit to you, in writing, for 
the information of the Umperor, a communication upon the subject of affairs in 
Mexico, as affected by the presence of French armed forces in that country. On 
the 39th of January thereafter you favored me with a reply to that communica- 
tion, Avhich reply had been transmitted to you by M. Druyn de Lhuys, under the 
date of the 9th of the same month. I have submitted it to the President of the 
United States. It is now made my duty to revert to the interesting question 
which has thus been brought under discussion. In the first place, I take notice of 
the points which are made by M. Druyn de Lhuys. He declares that the French 
•expeditien into Mexico had in it nothing hostile to the institutions of the New 
World, and siill less of anything hostile to the United States. As proofs of this 
friendly statement he refers to the aid, in blood and treasxu-e, which France con- 
tributed in our Kevolutionary war to the cause of our national independence ; to 
the parliamentary propositions that France made to lis that we should join her in 
her expedition to Mexico; and, finally, to the neutrality which France has prac- 
tised in the painful civil war through which we have just successfully passed. It 
_gives me pleasure to acknowledge that the assurances thus given on the present 
occasion, that the French expedition in its original design had no political objects 
or motives, harmonize entirely with expressions which abound in the earlier cor- 
respondence of the Minister for Foreign Affairs which arose out of the war be- 
tween France and Mexico. We accept, with especial pleasure, the reminiscences 
of our traditional friendship. M. Douyn de Lhuys next assures us that the French 
government is disposed to hasten as much as possible the recall of its troops 
ijom Mexico. Wo hail the announcement as being a virtual promise of relief to 
t.his government from the. apprehensions and anxieties which were the burden of 
that communication of mine, which M. Druyn de Lhuys has under consideration. 

M. Druyn de Lhuys proceeds to declare that the only aim of France in piirsuing 
lier enterprise La Mexico has been to follow up the satisfaction to which she had a 
right, after having resorted to coercive measures when measures of every other 
form had been exhausted. M. Druyn de Lhuys says that it is known how many 
and legitimate were the claims of French subjects, which caused the resort to 
arms. He then reminds us how, on a former occasion, the United States had 
waged war on Mexico. On this poiat it seems equally necessary and proper to say 
that the war thus referred to was not made nor sought by the United States, but 
was accepted by them under provocation of a very grave character. The trans- 
action is passed, and the necessity and justice of the proceedings of the United 
States are questions which now rest only within the province of liistory. France, 
I think, will acknowledge that neither in the beginning of our Mexican war, nor 
in its prosecution, nor in the terms on which we retired from that successful con- 
test, did the United States assume any position inconsistent with the principles 
which are now maintained by us in regard to the French expedition in Mexico. 
We are, as we have been, in relations oi amity and friendship equally with France 
and ]V[exico, and therefore, we cannot consistently with those relations, constitute 
ourselves a judge of the original merits of the war which is waged between them. 
We can speak concerning that war only so far as we are aftected by its bearing 
upon ourselves and upon rej^ublican and American institutions on this continent. 

M. Druyn de Lhuys declares that the French army, in entering Mexico, did not 
carry mouarcliial traditions in the folds of its flag. In this connection he refers to 
the fact that there were at the time of the expedition a uiunber of influential men 
in Mexico who despaired of obtaining order out of the conditions of the republican 
rule then existing there, and who therefore cherished the idea of falling back upon 
monarchy. In this connection we are further reminded that one of the late Presi- 
dents of Mexico offered to use his power for the re-establishment of royalty. We 
are further informed that at the time of the French invasion the persons before 
referred to deemed the moment to have arrived for making an appeal to the people 
of Mexico in favor of monarchy. M. Druyn de Lhuys remarked that the French 
government did not deem it a duty to discourage that supreme effort of a power- 
ful party, which had its origin long anterior to the French expedition. He ob- 
serves that the Emperor, faithful to the maxims of public right which he holds in 
common with the United States, declared on that occasion that the question of a 
change of institutions rested solely on the suffrage of the Mexican people. In 
.support of this statement M. l^ruyn de I^huys gives a copy of a letter which the 



SOLIDARITY O :<' NATIONS, iO 

Emperor addreBsed to tlie commander-iu-chief of the French expedition on the 
capture of Puebla, which letter contains the following words: — " Our object, you 
know, is not to impose on the Mexicans against their Avill, nor to raakc our success 
aid in the triumph of any party whatever. I desire that Mexico may rise to a new 
]ife, and that soon, regenerated by a government fomided on the national will or 
principles of order and of progress, and of respect for the laws of nations, she may 
acknowledge, by her friendly relations, that she owes to France her repose and 
her prosperity." 

M. Druyn de Lhuys pursues his argument by saying that the Mexican people 
have spoken, that the Emperor Maximilian has been called by the people of the 
coimtry, that his government has ai)peai-ed to the Emperor of the French to be of 
a nature adequate to restore peace to the nation, and on its part peace to interna- 
tional relations, and that he has, therefore, given it his support. M. Druyn de 
Lhuys, therefore, presents the following as a true statement of the present case: — 
France went to Mexico to exercise the right of war which is exercised by the 
United States, and not in virtue of any purpose of intervention, concerning which 
she recognizes the same doctrine as the United States. France v^ent there, not to 
bring about a monarchial proselytism, but to obtain reparation and guarantees 
which she ought to claim ; and, being there, she now sustains the government 
which is foimded on the consent of the people, because she expects from that gov- 
ernment the just satisfaction of her wrongs, as well as the securities indispensable 
to the future. As she does not seek the satisfaction of an exclusive interest, nor 
the realization of any ambitious schemes, so she now wishes to recall what remains 
in Mexico of the army corps which France has sent there, at the moment when 
she will be able to do so with safety to the French citizens and with due respect 
to herself. I am aware how delicate the discussion is to which M. Druyn de 
Lhuys thus invites me. France is entitled by every consideration of respect and 
friendship to enterpret for herself the objects of the expedition, and of the whole 
of her proceediags in Mexico. Her explanation of those motives and objects is 
therefore accepted on our part with the consideration and confidence which we 
expect for explanations of our own when assigned to France or any other friendly 
Power. Nevertheless, it is my duty to insist that, whatever were the intentions, 
purposes and objects of France, the proceedings which were adopted by a class of 
Mexicans for subverting the republican government there, and for availing them- 
selves of French intervention to establish on its ruins an imperial monarchy, are 
regarded by the United States as having been taken without the authority, and 
prosecuted against the will and opinions of the Mexican people. For these 
reasons it seems to this government that in supporting institutions thus established, 
in derogation of the inalienable rights of the people of Mexico, the original pur- 
poses and objects of the French expedition, though they have not bten, as a mili- 
tary demand of satisfaction, abandoned nor left out of view by the Emperor of 
the French, were, nevertheless, let fall into a condition in which they seem to 
have become subordinate to a political revolution, which certainly would not have 
occurred if France had not forcibly intervened, and which, judging from the 
genius and character of the Mexican people, would not now be maintained by them 
if that armed intervention should cease. 
The United States have not seen any satisfactory evidence that the people of 
^ Mexico have spoken, and have called into being or accepted the so-called empire 
'which it insisted has been set up in their capital. The United States, as I have re- 
marked on other occasions, are of opinion that such an acceptance coiild not have 
been freely procured, or lawfully taken at any time, in the presence of the French 
army of invasion. The withdrawal of the French forces is deemed necessary to 
allow such a proceeding to be taken by Mexico. Of course, the Emperor of France 
is entitled to determine the aspect in which the Mexican situation ought to be re- 
garded by him. It, therefore, recognizes, and must continue to recognize in Mexico 
' 'only the ancient republic, and it can in no case consent to involve itself, either 
directly or indirectly, in relation with, or recognition of the institution of the Prince 
Maximilian in Mexico. This position is held, 1 believe, without one dissenting 
voice, by our countrymen. I do not pretend to say that the opinion of the American 
people is accepted, or will be adopted generally by other foreign Powers, or by 
the public opmion of mankind. The Emperor is quite competent to form a judg- 
ment upon this important point for himself. I cannot, however, properly exclude 
the observation that whUe this question affects by its bearings incidentally every 
republican State in the Americaii hemisphere, every one of those States has 



76 MEXICO, A NDTHE 

adopted the judgment wliicTi, on. behalf of the United States, is herein expressed. 
Under these circumstances it has happened, either rightfully or wrongfully, that 
the presence of European armies in Mexico, maintaining a European Prince with 
imperial attributes, withoiit her consent and against her will, is deemed a source 
of apprehension and danger, not alone to the United States, but also to aU the 
independent and sovereign republican States founded on the American continent 
and its adjacent islands. France is acquainted with the relations of the United 
States towards the other American States, to which I have reierred, and is aware 
of the sense that the American people entertain in regard to the obligations and 
duties due from them to those other States. 

We are thus brought back to the single question which formed the subject of 
my communication of the 6th of December last, namely : the desirableness of an 
adjustment of a question the continuance of which must necessarily be prejudical 
to the hannony and friendship which have hitherto existed between the United 
States and France. This Government does not undertake to say how the claims 
of idemnity and satisfaction for which the war which France is waging in Mexico 
was originally instituted shall now be adjusted in discontinuing what, in its pro- 
gress, has become a war of political intervention, dangerous to the United States 
and to republican institutions in the American hemisphere. Recognizing France 
and the republic of Mexico as belUgerents engaged in war, we leave all questions 
concerning these claims and idemnities to them. The United States rest content 
with submitting to France the exigencies of an embarassing situation in Mexico, 
and exi^ressing the hope that France may find some manner, vrhich shall at once 
be consistent with her interest and honor, and the principles and interest of the 
United States, to relieve that situation without injurious delay. M. Druyn de 
Luhys repeats on this occasion what he has heretofore written, viz : — that it de- 
pends much upon the federal government to facilitate theii" desii'e of the with- 
drawal of the French forces from Mexico. Reargues that the position which the 
United States have assumed, has nothing incompatible with the existence of mon- 
archical institutions in Mexico. He draws to his support on this point the fact 
that the President of the United States, as well as the Secretary of State, in 
official papers, disclaim all thought of propagandism on the American continent in 
favor of republican institutions. M. Druyn de Lhuys draws in also the fact that 
the United States hold friendly relations with the Emperor of Brazil, as they held 
similar relations with Yturbide, the Mexican Emperor, in 1832. From these 
positions M. Druyn de Lhuys makes the deduction that neither any fundamental nor 
any precedent in the diplomatic history of this country creates any necessary antago- 
nism between the United States and the form of government over which the Prince 
Maximilian presides in the ancient capital of Mexico. I do not think it would be 
profitable, and therefore I am not desirons to engage in the discussions which M. 
Druyn de Lhuys has thus raised. It will be sufficient for my purpose on the 
present occasion to assert, and to give reassurance of our desire to facilitate the 
withdrawal of the French troops from Mexico, and for that purpose, to do whatso- 
ever shall be compatible with the positions we have heretofore taken upon the sub- 
ject, and with our just regards to the sovereign rights of the Republic of Mexico. 
Farther, or otherwise than this, France could not expect us to go. Having thus 
reassured France, it seems necessary to state anew the position of this government 
as it was set forth in my letter of the 6th of December, as follows : Republican 
and domestic institutions on this continant are deemed most congenial with, and 
and most beneficial to the United States. Where the people of any country like 
Brazil, now, or Mexico in 1832, have voluntarily established and acquiesced in 
monarchical institutions of their own choice, free from all foreign control or inter- 
vention, the United States do not refuse to maintain relations with such govern- 
ment ; nor seek through propagandism by force or intrigue to overthrow those in- 
stitutions. On the contrary, where a nation has established institutions, republican 
and domestic, similar to our own, the United States assert in their behalf that no 
foreign nation can rightfully intervene by force to subvert republican institutions 
and establish those of an antagonistical character. M. Druyn de Lhuys seems to 
think that I have made a double reproach against the Prince Maximilian's alleged 
government, of the difficulty it encounters, and of the assistance it borrows from 
foreign Powers. In that respect M. Druyn de Lhuys contends that the obstacles 
and resistance which Maximilian has been obliged to wrestle with have in them- 
selves nothing esp«cial against the fonn of the institutions which he is supposed 
by M. Druyn de Lhuys to have established. 



S O 1, I D A U 1 T T OF ^^ A T I O N S . 77 

M. Druyn de Lhuys maintains tliat Maximilian's government is undergoing the 
lot quite common to new powers, wliile, above aE, it has the misfortime to "havo 
to bear the consequences of discords which liave been produced under a previous 
government. M. Druyn de Lhuys represents this misfoitune and this lot to be in 
eifect the misfortune and lot of governments which have not found armed com- 
petitors, and which have enjoyed in peace an uncontrolled authority. He alleges 
that revolts and intestine wars are the normal condition of Mexico. And he- 
further insists that the opposition made by some military chiefs to the establish- 
ment of an empire under Maximilian is only the natural sequence of the same 
want of discipline, and the same prevalence of anarchy of which his predecessors 
in power in Mexico have been victims. It is not the purpose, nor would it be 
consistent with the character of the United States to deny that Mexico has been 
for a long time the theatre of faction and intestine war. The United States con- 
fess this fact with regret ; all the more sincere because the experience of Mexico 
has been not only painful to her own people, but has been also of iinfortunately 
evil influence on other nations. On the other hand, it is neither a right of the 
United States, nor consistent with their friendly disposition toward Mexico to 
reproach the j)eople of that country with their past calamities, much less to in- 
voke or approve of the infliction of imnishment upon them by strangers for their 
political errors. The Mexican population have, and their situation has, some j^e- 
culiarities which are d-jiibtless well understood by France. Early in the jjresent 
century they were forced, by convictions which mankind cannot but respect, to 
cast off a foreign monarchical rule which they deemed incompatible with their 
welfare and aggrandizement. They were forced at the same time, ]jy connections 
which the world must respect, to attest the establishment of republican institu- 
tions without the full experience and practical education and habits which would 
render these institutions all at once firm and satisfactory. Mexico was a theatre 
of conflict between European commercial ecclesiastical and political institutions 
and dogmas, and novel American institutions and ideas. She had African slavery, 
colonial restrictions, and ecclesiastical monoplies. In the chief one of these par- 
ticulars she had a misfortune which was shared by the United States, while the 
latter was happily exempted from the other misfortunes. We cannot deny that 
all the anarchy in Mexico, of which M. Druyn de Lhuys complains, was necessarily 
and even A^dsely, endured, in the attempts to lay sure foundations of broad repub- 
lican liberty. I do not know whether France can rightly be expected to concur 
in this -sdew, which alleviates in oirr mind the errors, misfortunes and calamities 
of Mex'co. However this may be, we fall back upon tlie principles that no foreign 
State can rightfully inten^ene in such trials as those of Mexico, and, on the 
ground of a desire to correct those errors, deprive the people of their natural right 
of dorabstic and republican freedom. All the injuries and wrongs which Mexico 
can have committed against any other State, have found a severe punishment in 
consequences which legitimately tbllowed their commission. Nations are not 
authorized to correct each other's errors, except so far as is necessary to prevent 
or redress injuries affecting themselves. If ona State has a right to intervene in 
any other State to establish descipline, constituting itself a judge of the occasion, 
then every State has the same right to intervene in the affairs of every other 
nation, being itself alone the arbiter, both in regard to the time and the occasion. 
The principle of intervention thus practically carrid out would seem to render all 
sovereignty and independence, and even all international peace and amity, uncer- 
tain and fallacious. 

M. Druyn de Lhuys proceeds to remark that as for the support which Maximilian 
received from the French army, as well also for the support which has been lent 
to him by Belgian and Austrian volimteers, those supports cause no hindrance to 
the freedom of his resolutions in the affairs of his government. 

M. Druyn de Lhuys asks what State is there that does not need allies either to form 
or to defend ? As to the great Powers, such as France and England, do they not 
constantly maintain foreign troops in their armies ? When the United States 
fought for their independence did the aid given by France cause that movement 
to cease to be truly national ? Shall it be said that the contest between the United 
States and the recent insurgents was not in a like manner a national war, because 
thousands of Irishmen and Germans were found fighting xinder the flag of the 
United States. Arguing from anticipated answers to these questions, M. Druyii'' 
de Lhuys reaches a conclusion that the character of Maximilian's government 
cannot be contested, nor can its efforts to consolidate itself be contested on the 



78 ai K X I G O , A N D T II E 

ground of the employment of foreign troops. M. Druyn de Lhuys, in this argu- 
ment, seems to us to have overlooked two important facts, viz : Frst, that the 
United States in this correspondence have assigned definite limits to the right of 
alliance incompatible with our assent to this argument ; second, the fact that 
the United States have not, at any time, accepted the supposed government of the 
Prince IMasimihan as a constitutional or legitimate form of government in Mexico, 
capable or entitled to form alliances. M. Druyn de Lhuys then argues in a graphic 
manner the advantages that have arisen, or are to arise to the United States from 
the successful establishment of the supposed empire in Mexico. Instead of a country 
unceasingly in trouble, and which has given us so many subjects of complaint, 
and against which we ourselves have been obliged to miake war, he shows us in 
Mexico a pacific country under a beneficent imperial sway offering henceforth 
measures of security and vast openings to our commerce — a country far from in- 
j uring our rights or hurting our influences. And he assures us that above all 
other nations, the United States are most likely to profit by the work which is 
being accomphshed by Prince Maximilian in Mexico. These suggestions are as 
natural on the part of France as they are friendly to the United States. The 
United States are not insensible to the desirableness of political and commercial 
reform in the adjoining country ; but their settled principles, habits and connec- 
tions forbid them to look for such changes in this hemisphere, to foreign, royal or 
imperial institutions, foimded upon a forcible subversion of republican institutions. 
The United States, in their accustomed sobriety, regard no beneficial results 
which could come from such a change in Mexico as sufficient to overbalance the 
injury which they must directly suffer by the overthrow of the republican 
government of Mexico. 

M. Druyn de Lhuys, at the end of his very elaborate and able review, recapitu- 
lates his exposition in the following words : " The United States acknowledge 
the right we had to make war in Mexico. On the other part we admit, as they 
do, the' principle of non-intervention. This double postulate includes, as it seems 
to me, the element of an agreement. The right to make war, which belongs, as 
Mr. Seward declares, to every sovereign nation, implies the right to secure the 
results of war. We have not gone across the ocean merely for the jjurpose of 
showing our power and of inflicting chastisement on the Msxicau government. 
After a train of fruitless remonstrances it was our duty to demand guarantees 
we could not look for from a government whose bad faith we had proved on so 
many occasions. We find them now engaged in the establishment of a regular 
government which shows itself disposed to honestly keep its engagements. In 
this relation we hope that the legitimate object of our expedition will soon be 
retjched. And we are striving to make with the Emperor Maximilian arrange- 
ments which, by satisfying our interests and our honor, will permit us to con 
sider at an end the service of the army upon Mexican soil. The Emperor has 
given an order to write in this sense to our minister in Mexico. We fall back at 
that moment upon the principle of non-intervention, and from that moment accept 
it as the rule of our conduct. Our interest, no less than our honor, commands us 
to claim from all the uniform ap])lication of it. Trusting the spirit of equity 
which animates the cabinet at Washington, we expect from it the assurance that 
the American people will themselves conform to the law which they invoke by 
observing in regard to Mexico a strict neutrality. When you (meaning the 
Marquis de-Montholon) shall have informed me of the rcsqlution of the federal 
government, I shall be able to indicate to you the nature of the results of our 
negotiations with the Emperor Maximihan for the return of oirr troops." 

I have already, and not without much reluctance, made the comments upon 
the arguments of M. Druyn de Lhuys which seem to be necessary to guard against 
The inference of concurrence in qviestionable positions which might be drawn 
from our entire silence. I think that I can, therefore, afford to leave his recapitu- 
lation of those arguments without such an especial review as would necessarily be 
prolix and perhaps hypercritical. The United States have not claimed, and they 
do not claim, to know what arrangements the Emperor may make for the adjust- 
ment of claims for idemnity and redress in Mexico. It would be on our part an 
act of intervention to take cognizance of them. We adhere to our position that 
the war in question has become a political Avar between France and the re- 
public of Mexico, injurious and dangerous to the United States and to the re- 
publican cause ; and we ask only that in that aspect and character it may be 
brought to an end. It would be illiberal on the part of the United States to sup 



S O L I D A K I T Y OF NATIONS. 79" 

pose that, in desiring or pursuing preliminary arrangements, the Emper<jr con- 
templates the establishment in Mexico, before withdrawing his forces, of the very- 
institutions which constitute the material ground of the exceptions taken against 
his intervention by the United States. It would be still more illiberal to suppose 
for a moment that he expects the United States to bind themselves indirectly to 
acquiesce in or support the obnoxious institutions. On the contrary, we under- 
stand him as announcing to us his immediate purpose to bring to an end the 
service of the armies in Mexico ; to withdraw them, and in good faith to fall back, 
without stipulation or condition on our part, iipon the principle of non-interven- 
tion, uiDon which he is henceforth agreed with the United States. AVe cannot 
understand his appeal to us for an assurance that we ourselves will abide by our 
own principles of non-intervention in any other sense than as the expression, in. 
a friendly way, of his expectation that when the people of Mexico shall have 
been left absolutely free from the operation, effects and consequences of his own 
political and military intervention, we will ourselves respect their self-established 
sovereignty and independence. In this view of the Subject only can we consider 
his appeal pertinent to the case. Regarding it in only this aspect we must meet 
the Emperor frankly. He knows the form and character of this government. 
The nation can be bound only by treaties which have the concurrence of the Pres- 
ident and two-thirds of the Senate. A formal treaty would be objectionable, as 
unnecessary, except as a disavowal of bad faith on our part, to disarm suspicion 
in regard to a matter concerning which we have given no cause for questioning 
our loyalty, or else such a treaty would be refused upon the ground that tlie ap- 
plication for it by the Emperor of France was unhappily a suggestion of some 
sinister or unfriendly reservation or purpose on his part in withdrawing from. 
Mexico. Diplomatic assurances given by the President on behalf of the nation 
can at best be but the expresions of confident expectations on his part that the 
personal admhiistration, ever changing in confennity and adaptation to the na- 
tional will, does not misunderstand the settled painciples and policy of the Amer- 
ican people. Explanations cannot properly be made by the President in any case 
wherein it would be deemed, for any reason, objectionable on grounds of public 
policy by the treaty-making power of the government to introduce or entertain 
negotidtions. 

With these explanations I proceed to sav that, in the opinion of the President, 
France need not for a moment delay her promised withdrawal of military forces 
from Mexico, and her putting the principle of non-intervention into full and com- 
plete practice in regard to Mexico, through any apprehension that the United 
States will prove unfaithful to the principles and policy in that respect, which, ou 
their behalf, it has been my duty to maintain in this now very lengthened cor- 
respondence. The practice of this government from its beginning ia a guarantee 
to all nations of the respect of the American people for the free sovereignty of 
the people in every other state. We received the instruction from Washington ; 
we applied it sternly in our early intercourse even witli France. The same prin- 
ciple and practice have been uniformly inculcated by all our own statesmen, inter- 
preted by all our jurists, maintained by all our congresses, and acquiesced in 
without i^ractical dissent on all occasions by the American people. It is in reality 
the chief element of foreign intercourse in our history. Looking simply toward 
the point to which our attention has been steadily confined— to the relief of the 
Mexican embarrassments without disturbing our relations with France — we shall 
be gratified when the Emperor shall give to us, either through the channel of our 
esteemed correspondent or otherwise, definite information of the time when French 
military operations may be expected to cease. 

To Marquis de SIontholon, &c., &c. W. H. SEWARD. 

THP: MABQTJIS de MONXHOIiON TO MR. SEWARD. 

Legation of France to the United States, } 
Washington, April 21, 1866. f 
Mr. Secbetart of State : — 

Siis — I hasten to remit herewith to your Execellency a copy of a dispatcli 
which I at the moment receive from H. E. M. Druyn de Lhuys, and whieli 
answers the dispatch you were pleased to address to me relating to Mex- 
ican affairs on the 12th of February last. Accept, Mr. Secretary of State, 
the assurances of my high consideration.. MONTHOLON. 

To the Hon, Wnjij-'Uki H. Seward. 



::S0 M K X I C O , AND T II K 

M. DEITYN TO THE MAHQnS DE MOKTHOLO^T. 

Pakis, April 5, 1866. 
"To the Marquis de Montholon : 

SxK — ^I have read with all the attention :which it deserves the answer of the 
'Secretary of State to my dispatch of the 9th of January last. The 
scrupulous care with which Mr. Seward has pleased to analyze that dis- 
patch, and the extended considerations upon which he as entered to de- 
fine, in regard to the expose which I have made of the conduct of France 
in the affairs of Mexico, the doctrines which are the basis of the interna- 
tional policy of the United State's, bear witness in our eyes to the interest 
which the Cabinet of Washington attaches to putting aside all misappre- 
hension. We find therein the e-vddences of its sentiments of amity which 
the traditions of a long alliance have cemented between our two countries 
to prevail over the accidental divergences often inevitable in the move- 
ment of affairs and the relations of governments. It is in this disposition 
that we have appreciated the communication which the Secretary of State 
has addressed to you on the 1st of January last. Isliall not follow Mr. Seward 
in the dev elopements he has given to the exposition of the principles which direct 
4he policy of the Aiyierican Union. It does not appear to me opportune or 
_frojUahle to prolong on points of delicacy cr of history a discussion icherein 
onany may differ in opinion from the government of the United States 
withoxit danger to the interests of the two countries. I think it bet- 
ter to serve these interests, to absfcdn from discussing assoiions, in 
.'my opinion, very co7itestahle, in order to take action on assurances which 
may contribute to facilitate one understanding. We never heaitate to offer 
to our friends the explanations they ask from us, and we hasten to give to 
the Cabinet at Washington all these which may enlighten it on the pur- 
pose we are pursuing in Mexico, and on the loyality of our intentions. — 
We have said to it at the same time that the certainty we should acquire 
■of its resolution to observe in regard to that eountry, after our departure, 
a policy of non-intervention would hasten the moment when it would be 
possible for us, without compromising the interests which led us there, to 
"withdraw our troops and put an end to an occupation the duration of 
which we are sincerely desirous to abridge. In his dispatch of the l^th of 
February last Mr. Seward calls to mind, on his part, that the government 
=of the United States has conformed, diiring the whole course of its history, 
to the rule of condxict which it received from Washington by practising 
invariably the principle of non-intervention, and observes that nothing 
justifies the apprehension that it should show itself unfaithful in Avhat 
may concern Mexico. We receive this assurance with entire confidence. 
We find therein a sufiScient guarantee not any longer to delay the adoption 
of measures intended to prepare for the return of our army. The Emper- 
or has decided that tlie French troops shall evacuate Mexico in three de- 
tachments, the first being intended to depart in the month of November, 
1866 ; the second in March, 1867, and the third in the month of Novem- 
ber of the same year. You will please to communicate this decision oflS.- 
•^ctally to the Secretary of State. 

Beceive, Marquis, the assurance of mv high consideration. 

DEUYN DE LHUYS. 

To the Marquis de Moxtholon, minister of the Emperor to Wash- 
ington. 

Legation of the United States. / 

Paeis, June 4, 1866. [ 

Siii — I waited ui^ou his Excellency, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, on 
Saturday last, in pursTiauce of a i)revious appointment, to confer ^vith him 
upon the subject matter of your instructions. No. 459, marked "confi- 
dential." As he had already been apprised of the contents of that 
dispatch, through the French minister residing in Washington. I was 
spared the necessity of restating them. He said that the Imperial. Gov- 



S O L I I) A K 1 T Y O F N A T I O Sr S . 81 

ment proclaimed its intention to retire from Mexico because it suited its 
convenience and interests to retire, and for no other reason. When, 
therefore, it announced formerly, not merely to the United States, but to 
all the world, that the army would be withdrawn from Mexico within a 
specified term, he thought it should be deemed sufficient. The Govern- 
ment made its declaration in good faith, and means to keei? it. It means 
to withdraw its army within the time prescribed, and it does not intend to 
take one or two hundred in the first detachment and one or two hundred 
in the second, leaving the greater body of them to the last, though it had 
not deemed it necessary to specify with mimtteness details of this kind 
which depends upon hygienic and climatic considerations of which it was 
the best and the only competent judge. This his excellency said he 
wished I would say to our government. I asked his excellency if t had ever 
intimated to him, whether in \rating or orally, any suspicion of the Em- 
peror's intention to withdraw his army from Mexico in unequal portions. 
He rei)lied that I had not. I then asked him if any other person author- 
ized to speak in the name of my government had done so. He said no : 
but he had read imputations of that kind in one of our papers. I rephed 
in substance that the press was a law in itself, and that we had better not 
accept it as a law unto us ; and as he asked me to communicate to my gov- 
ernment a formal answer to Avhat sounded like an accusation of insincerity 
and bad faith on the part of the Emperor, I wanted his authority for sta- 
ting that no such accusation had reached him through any official channel. 
He repHed that he only had read it in a newspaper. I then went on to 
say that the purpose of your instruction, as I understood it, was simjjly to 
obtain an explanation, which was sure to be required of you, of the ship- 
ment in France of large bodies of troops to Mexico after the purpose to 
withdraw her whole army had been officially proclaimed. To this his Ex- 
cellency replied that since seeing me, he had gotten from his colleagues of 
the Marine and War Departments information to the import that no troops 
belonging to the corps expeditionaire had been sent to Mexico this year, 
tinless for the sake of i^artly replacing soldiers missing, but at any rate 
without any augmentation of the number of standing troops ; that the 
shipment of troops referred to in the pubKc prints, and in your despatch, 
was most likely that made in the transport Rhone about the beginning of 
the year ; that this Rhone touched at Martinque but not at St. Thomas as 
was stated ; that she carried 916 and not 1,200 soldiers ; that they belong- 
ed to the Foreign Legion and not to the Expeditionary Corps ; that they con- 
i^isted of troops that had been waiting transportation a long time in France 
and in Algeria, to join their regiments ; that no new troops had been en- 
rolled for the Foreign Legion since the Emperor proclaimed his purpose 
to withdraw his flag from Mexico, and that no more for what he knew were 
intended to be enrolled. In regard to the shipment of troops from Aus- 
tria, he said that was an affair entirely between that government and the 
Mexican, Avith which France had nothing to do ; that since I had spoken 
to him upon the subject, he had verified his own convictions by a reference 
to the Ministers of War and Marine, and had ascertained that no engage- 
ments of any sort had been entered into by either for the enrollment or 
transportation of troops from Austria to Mexico. He went on further to 
say that it was the intention of the government to withdraw the army en- 
tirely from Mexico within the time specified in his dispatch to you, at the 
very latest — sooner, if climatic and other controlling considerations per- 
mitted, and it was not its intention to replace them with other troops from 
any quarter. At the conclusion of a long conversation, of which I have 
given the imjiortant results, I expressed satisfaction with his Excellencey's 
explanation, and the pleasure I should have in communicating them to 
my government. This dispatch has been submitted to M. Drouyn de 
Lhuys, and the foregoing version of the results of our conversation has 
been approved by him. 

I am, Sir, mth very great respect, your obe't serv't, JOHN BIGELOW. 
Hon. Wm. Seward, Department of State, Washington, D. C. 



82 M E X 1 C O , A N D T H E 

ME. SEWABD TO MK. MOTLEY — [167]. 

Depaetment oe State, Washington, March 19. 1866. 
Sir — Mr. Bigelow informs me by a dispatch of the 15th of February, that 
he learned from an unofficial source that Gregoeis Barandyn, the diplo- 
matic representative of the Archduke Maximilian, formerly Secretary of 
Legation under Senor Eobles, at Washington, is now in Paris to fit out 
ten thpusand Austrians, who, he says, are ready to embark from Trieste 
for Mex ico. The Mexican Minister informed him that there was no money 
in his hands. I am not sure of learning the result of the Minister's visit 
here, as the money, if furnished, must;come through indirect and concealed 
channels. You are instructed to inquire concerning the facts ; and, if they 
justify the report, to bring to the knowledge of the Austrian Government 
seasonably that the United States cannot regard with uncommon concern 
a proceeding which would seem to bring Austria into alliance with the in- 
vaders of Mexico to subvert the domestic government of the republic, and 
to build up foreign imperial institutions. It is hoped that Austria will give 
us frank explanation. I am, sir, your obedient servant, 

W. H. SLWAED. 
J. Lathrop Motley, Esq., &c., Vienna. 

MR. SEWARD TO MR. M,OTLEY. 

Departmest of State, Washington, March 19, 1866. 
Sir — ^I have your dispatch of the 27th of Februaiy, No. 150, by which 
we learn that efforts are now made to induce the Austrian Government to 
consent that 4,000 volunteers may be levied within that empire this year 
for Mexico, on the ground that the supplementary articles of the Conven- 
tion of Miramar permitted 2,000 each year, and that none were forwarded 
in the year 1865. Upon this statement of facts you express the opinion 
that the consent desired will probably be accorded by the imperial govern- 
ment, so that if the funds can be obtained for paying, equipping and 
transporting 4,000 officers and volunteers, they will be found and may be 
expected in Mexico this year. At the same time you state that it is your 
opinion that the funds have not yet been furnished. The case thus pre- 
sented renders it proper that I should caU. your especial attention to my 
dispatch No. 167, which bears the date of and is sent forward this day. In 
preparing that dispatch I anticipated the case substantially which your 
communication now presents. You cannot, while practising the courtesy 
and respect which are due to the Austrian Government, he either too earnest 
or too emphatic in the protest you have been directed to make. In performing 
this duty you may be assisted by information of the actual state of the 
question concerning French intervention in Mexico at the present moment. 
With this view I give you, confidentally, a copy of my note addressed 
to M. Montholon on the 12th day of February last. As yet no reply has 
been received to this note, nor have its contents become jDublic. You 
yfHil. therefore, see the propriety of being discreet in such use of it as you 
may find it necessary to make. After reading that paper you will be justi- 
fied in saying that the American government and peojile would not be like- 
ly to be pleased with seeing Austria, at this junction, assume the character 
of a^rotector to a foreign military power, which, claming the power of an 
empire, is attempted to be set up on the supposed subverted foundations 
of the republic of Mexico. 

I am, sir, your obedient servant, Wm. H. SEWABD. 

J. Lathrcp Motley, Esq. , Vienna. 

ME. SEWARD TO MR. MOTLEY. — [No. 173.] 

Washington, April 6, 1866. 
Sm — An informal note has just been received from Mr. Bigelow, the 
United States minister at Paris. In tliis note Mr. Bigelow writes in sub- 
stance as follows : The Moniteur of the 21st of March announces that a 
military convention was signed s^t Vienna on the 15th instant between the 



SOLIDAKITT OF NATIONS. 83 

Austrian government and the representatives of Maximilian, supplement- 
ary to a convention of the same nature which had been previously con- 
cluded between the same parties. The purpose of this engagement, says 
the Moniteur, is to insure the enrollment necessary to keep full the Aus- 
trian corps in Mexico. Mr. Bigelow further writes as follows : "I have 
seen it stated in another journal that a line of steamers is to be started 
from Trieste to Vera Cruz, to ply regitlarly after the 1st of April." 

Again Mr. Bigelow furnishes an extract from the Paris Constitutionel of 
the 21st of March : _ "We learn from the Freudenhlatt, Vienna, that the 
enlistment for Mexico will begin immediately ; that the funds had been re- 
ceived from Paris two months since." 

Your dispatches, of dates almost as late as that of Mr. Bigelow's note, 
are silent upon the rumors which he brings to the notice of this government. 
It is possible that more authentic information which you may possess con- 
cerning the disposition and proceedings of the Austrian government may 
enable you to treat the matter mentioned by Mr. Bigelow with indififer- 
ence. Looking at the matter, however, from one point of observation, 
the rumors referred to are deemed sufficient to entitle us to ask a friendly 
and just exposition of the imperial royal government of the relations 
which it proposes to assume, to assure or maintain henceforth in regard to 
Mexico. You are, therefore, expected to execute the instructions which 
have heretofore been sent to you to that effect, and it is thought proper 
that you should state that in the event of hostilities being carried on here- 
after in Mexico by Austrian subjects, under the command or with the 
sanction of the government of Vienna, the United States will feel themselves 
at liberty to regard those hostilities as constituting a state of war by Austria 
against the republic of Mexico, and in regard to such war, waged at this 
time and under existing circumstances the United States could not engage 
to remain as silent ©r neutral spectators. 

The President may desire to call the attention of Congress to this inter- 
esting subject. Yon will see the importance, therefore, of obtaining the 
information which is desired as early as may be practicable, consistently 
with the courtesies due to Austria as a friendly government. Should you, 
however, find important reasons now unknown to us for deferring the execu- 
tion of this instruction, you will be at liberty to exercise your discretion 
and report the reasons to us. 

I remain, sir, your obedient servent, Wm. H. SEWARD. 

J. Latheop Motley, Esq., &c., &c., Vienna. 

mb. sewakd to sik. motley. 

Department oe State, / 

Washington, April 16, 1866. f 

SrB — I have had the honor to receive your dispatch of the 27th of March 
[No. 155], which brings the imjiortant announcement that a treaty called a 
" Military Supplementary Convention" was ratified on the 15th of that 
month between the Emperor of Austria and Prince Maximilian, who claims 
to be an emperor in Mexico. You inform me that it is exiiected that about 
one thousand volunteers will be shipped under the treaty from Trieste to 
Vera Cruz very soon, and that at least as many more will be shipjjed in the 
autumn. I have heretofore given you the President's instructions to ask 
for explanations, and conditionally to inform the government of Austria 
that the dispatch of military expeditions by Austria under such an arrange- 
ment as the one which seems now to have been consummated would be re- 
garded with serious concern by the United States. The subject has now 
"been further considered in connection with the official information thus 
recently received. 

The time seems to have arrived when the attitude of this government in 
relation to Mexican affairs should be once again frankly and distinctly 
made known to the Emperor of Austria and all other powers whom it may 
directly concern. The United States, for reasons which seem to them to 
be just, and to have their foundations in the laws of nations, maintain 



84 Mexico, AND THE 

that the domestic republician government with which they are on relations 
of friendly communication, is the only legitimate government existing in 
Mexico ; that a war has, for a period of several years, been waged against 
that republic by the government of France, which was begun with a dis- 
claimer of all political or dynastic designs ; that, that war has subsequent- 
ly taken upon itself, and now distinctly wears the character of an Europe- 
an intervention to overthrow that domestic repubHcan government, and to 
erect in its stead a European imperial mihtary despotism by military force. 
The United States, in view of the character of their own poHtical institu- 
tions, their proximity and intimate relations toward Mexico, and their just 
influence in the political affairs of the American continent, cannot consent 
to the accomplishment of that purpose by the means described. The 
United States have, therefore, addressed themselves, as they think reason- 
ably, to the government of France, and have asked that its military forces 
engaged in that objectionable poHtical invasion may desist from further 
intervention and be withdrawn from Mexico. 

A copy of the last communication upon this subject, which was address- 
ed by the United States to the government of France, is herewith trans- 
mitted for your special information. These papers will give you the true 
situation of the question. It will also enable you to satisfy the govern- 
ment of Vienna that the United States must he no less opposed to military 
intervention for political objects hereafter in Mexico by the government of 
Austria than they are opposed to any further intervention of the same 
character in that qountry by France, You will therefore act at as early a 
day as may be convenient. Bring the whole case in a becoming manner to 
the attention of the imperial royal government. 

You are authorized to state that the United States sincerely desire that 
Austria may find it just and expedient to come up on the same ground of 
non-intervention in Mexico which is maintained by the United States, and 
to which they have invited France. You will communicate to us the an- 
swer of the Austrian government to this proposition. This government 
could not but regard as a matter of serious concern the despatch of any 
troops from Austria for Mexico, while the subject which you are thus di- 
rected to present to the Austrian government remains under consideration. 

I am, sir, your obedient servant, Wm. H. SEWARD. 

To Lathkop Motley, Esq., Vienna. 

After having attentively read all this diplomatic nonsense, and all 
the words used to disguise the thought, one nevertheless remains con- 
vinced of the following facts, with or without the consent of the digni- 
taries who hold the pen iu hand : 

In the first place, that Louis Napoleon seeks to make an honorable 
and but temporary retreat from Mexico, and that Mr. Seward fiicililates 
his doing so by every means in his power. Why I what interest has 
the republican government of America in showing sympathy with the 
greatest enemy to nations and to liberty ■? This is what Mr. Seward 
could alone explain, and, probably, in a manner more satisfactory to 
himself than to the country. 

Secondly, That the French government affirms, in the letter of 
Monsieur Drouyn de Lhuys, its right to intervene and the necessity 
for intervention in Mexico, to change the form of government of that 
country. 

Thirdly, That it reserves to itself, on pretext of a payment of the 
debt which it is perfectly aware that Mexico cannot pay, an ever-ready 
excuse to resume, under more favorable circumstances, those projects 
which have not attained success this time 

Fourthly, That these circumstances arise from natural intei'nal com- 



SOLIDARITY O V NATIONS. 85 

Yjlications or those created by European governments in the Republic 
of the United States or in the South. 

It follows, therefore, that the interest of the American Republic is 
diametrically opposed to that of European governments, for they have 
an interest in disuniting us, and we have an interest in remaining 
united ; their interest is to make war — ours is to maintain peace, and, 
in consequence, to be logical, we should unite against them in order to 
paralize their bad intents. 

Fifthly, That, all tilings considered, the result of the French inter- 
vention in Mexico, as well as that of Spain in Chili and Peru, has been 
disastrous to the aggressive nations as well as to those attacked. 
France has expended immense sums, which will never be returned, 
whatever arrangements may be made. How should Mexico, which, 
according to Monsieur Drouyn de Lhuys' admission, cannot pay the 
actual expenses of its own government, and wished to borrow from 
the French government, be able to pay, not only the necessary ex- 
penses of its own security and its maintenance, but 250,000,000 be- 
sides, a figure at which Louis Napoleon sets the services rendered by 
France to Mexico, and gives besides an efiicacious guarantee to the 
subscriptions of the loan of 1864 and 1865? How could the two 
ports of Tampico and Vera Cruz, seized by Louis Napoleon — which, 
let me say in passing, is a disguised intervention that we should no 
more endure than any other — be able alone to suffice for paying all 
these arrears 1 Where is the new and immense commercial current 
du'ected upon Mexico, which is instantaneously to raise the custom- 
house receipts to the height that imperial coveteousness desires? A 
ruined nation neither buys nor consumes, and no one lends to such a 
nation. Does Monsieur Drouyn de Lhuys imagine that he is able to 
order the silks of Lyons and the Paris articles to walk over to Mexico 
'nx\ order to have the pleasure of paying duties at Vera Cruz and 
Tampico ? 

Let her do what she may, France will not be paid, and Mexico is 
ruined — such is the final account of this adventure, full of artifice, 
which some call an intervention, and others an assault, and which I, 
for my part, consider the first step toward the revival of the grande 
Jlibuste. 

Meanwhile, there are things which cannot be confessed, but which 
must be foreseen. The days of the Mexican empire are numbered, 
and the treaty which apparently shields French interests, will cease to 
have even the force of appearing to be a treaty, if it is not ratified by 
that government, whatever it may be, that will replace Maximilian. 
Juarez will never recognize after what he would not recognize before — 
I mean the Mexican debt — and he is right. Louis Napoleon, on his 
side, will never recognize Juarez, and wUl not wish to treat with him. 
It is here that Mr. Seward's services become especially necessary, and 
that his journey to Saint Thomas is explained by quite another motive 
than that of his health. Santa Anna was considered by Seward to be 
worthy of treating with Louis Napoleon through his intervention, and 
I do not hesitate, for my part, to believe the three worthy of each 
other. Santa Anna will recognize the Mexican debt without paying, 
and will save appearances. Besides, he will satisfy the clergy, and Mi'. 
■Seward will give a fresh token in addition to those already bestowed 



86 M E X I C O , A N D T H E 

by him upon the interest of the Cathohc Church in America. Ohy.'*' 
nations ! what a lesson, and to us, what shame ! 

France baffled, Mexico ruined and crushed, the United States deny- 
ing their mission and ignoring their destiny ; the Republic humbled 
in presence of the monarchy by Seward, who coquets with Loiiis 
Napoleon. Such is the result of the policy of those exceptional beings 
whom the credulity of n'ations entitles statemen. 

O sheep of Panurge ! when will you be able to do without the 
butcher and the shepherd! 

Since the occasion offers itself, permit me to show you, without dis- 
guise, one of these statesmen, dealers in nations, and paid by their 
shepherds to deliver them up to the butcher. I choose at hazard, and 
do not choose one of the most perverted. Dubois de Saligny is neither 
above nor below the average of his brethren. 



CHAPTER XII. 

DUBOIS DE SALIGNT. 

The personification of the evil genius of France at the beginning of 
the Mexican question is Monsieur Dubois de Saligny. It was he who 
fui'nished combustibles for the fire, grouped them, placed them, ignited 
them, and continually stii-red their flames to fury. This work accom- 
plished, his government thought fit to break the tool that would be, 
henceforth, valueless in its hands. Far be it from me to confound the 
tool with the hands that use it, or to attribute to Monsieur de Saligny 
what belongs to Louis Napoleon ; but, by throwing a beam of light 
upon the servant who has, till now, remained in the shade, I think 
that some rays of it will fall upon the master. "Like master, like 
man," says the proverb — "like man, like master," we may add. 

The family of Monsieur Dubois de Saligny is unknown. Raised as 
a purser in the College Henri Quatre in Paris, at the period when the 
Duke of Orleans was studying there, he became intimate with that 
young prince, who encouraged him, at a later period, to enter upon 
diplomacy. Such was the origni of his political career, the greater 
part of which has been passed in America. Monsieur Dubois de 
Saligny (or Dubois, as those who knew him as a youth, were accus- 
tomed to call him) belonged to the Orleanist party through inclination^ 
interest and gratitude — if gratitude could have had any hold upon him" ' 
— when the Revolution of February broke out. He did not hesitate 
an instant between Cavagnac and Louis Napoleon, and I remember the 
conversation which we had one evening as we were walking together 
near the Magdalen Church in Paris. It was some weeks before the 
election of the 10th of December. I was then commander of a bat- 
talion of Gardes Mobiles, and as I had, beside, raised all those of the 
Twelfth Arrondis?ement, the most populous and dangerous in Paris at- 
that period, it was not unimpoi'tant to have my influence. Saligny*'! 
undertook this commission, and, after having represented to me the- 



SOLIDARITY OF NATIONS. 87 

personal advantages which I might derive from a determination, such 
as he desired, he gave me, to support his word, the exact figure of the 
future votes in fevor of the two candidates. Was it chance or perspi- 
cacity ? I do not know. I have, however, always inclined to the 
latter hypothesis. Monsieur de Saligny has one of the clearest minds 
it is possible to meet with ; and as neither his conscience nor his sensi- 
bility ever interpose between his mind and his aim, he often attains it 
— but he often,- also, sees it escape him. 

With Louis Napoleon, Saligny triumphed. Not being a personage 
great enough to play a first role, he brought Changarnier into play, and 
wished to turn that general into the head of a party. He was, if not 
the soul of the Rue de Poitiers (which lay in Thiers), at least its arm, by 
means of Changarnier, and was, firstly, made head of stafi^ in the 
National Guard, then commanded by that general, and afterward am- 
bassador to La Haye. 

Foreseeing the coup d' etat, he thought himself able, not only to pre- 
vent, but to be in advance of it in favor of the Orleans family. Chan- 
garnier, like him, thought his measures sufiicient, and, confiding in 
success, began the celebrated phrase: " Mandatories of the people, de- 
libei*ate in peace," &c., the echo of which Avas destined to be lost in 
the hurrahs uttered by the drunkards who conquered on the 2d of De- 
cember, and who sent the mandatories of the people to deliberate in 
peace, but alone, at Mazas, Lambessa, Belle Isle and Cayenne. 

Louis Napoleon was somewhat more prompt, and was better served 
than Changarnier. 

Saligny naturally lost his position, and during som^ years vegetated 
in Paris, without means, which was insupportable to a man who had 
appetites instead of principles. 

Tired of this situation, he determined to rally to Louis Napoleon's 
government, under pretext that France imperatively required his 
presence in Mexico. I am not satirizing in the least. Monsieur de 
Saligny thought proper, for form's sake, to consult his former political 
friends upon his, reentrance into pohtical life, as necessitated by the 
want of a diplomatic agent in Mexico perfectly acquainted with the 
country. Every one naturally replied that it was needless to ask 
opinions, when a determination is already taken. Monsieur de Morny 
was the intermediary in the diplomatic rentree of Monsieur de Sahgny. 
Like the latter,- he had been a friend of the Duke of Orleans, and, 
what is more, had been attached to the king's household. Both he and 
De Saligny had the same tastes, the same passions, the same absolute 
want of principle. It is my belief that Morny and Saligny had already 
concocted the Jecker swindle. 

It was then to an Orleanist, a friend of Morny, a man under the in- 
direct influence of one of the counsellors of Jefierson Davis, a man 
connected by interest with the most influential, grasping and immoral 
men in France, that French interests in Mexico were about to be con- 
fided. 

If it be observed that the Jecker debt, of which Morney, Saligny, 
and those with them, became the purchasers, served as a departing 
point for the reclamation, and next for the intervention^of France : that 
Jecker, born in Switzerland, Avas made French for the needs of the 
scheme : that the secession of '*he South was one of the determining 



88 MEXICO, A N D 'r H K 

causes — as I have shown by diplomatic correspondence — of the armed 
action of France in Mexico : that the Orleanist party and England' 
have not ceased to observe with pleasure how Louis Napoleon was be- i 
coming more and more involved in this unlucky Mexican affair: it will'*' 
be apparent that Saligny was the man for the situation, and that he 
fulfilled his diabolic migsion fitly. He secured the reimbursement of 
the Jecker credit, at the expense of the people of France, procured a 
diversion for the South, by which he was not able, it is true, to profit 
— but that was not his fault — and tied a ball to the foot of Louis Napo- 
leon, of which that monarch is not yet rid. 

If it be observ^ed that Monsieur de Morny, loaded by Louis Napo- 
leon with every favor that an absolute sovereign can confer upon a sub- 
ject, ought to have been sincerely attached to the empire, I would re- 
ply that Monsieur de Morny was suspected of Orleanist proclivities. 
This IS not surprising to any man who knows the human heart. Mon- 
sieur de Morny looked upon himself as having quite as good a right to 
the succession of Napoleon I as Napoleon III, just as Prince Napoleon 
considers that he has a still greater claim. De Morny's perspicacity 
was, besides, too great not to see through the weakness of the govern- 
ment founded by him, and not to seek in a more stable government 
the consolidation of the advantages which he had been the most eager 
and best able to derive from the first. Certain it is that Monsieur de 
Morny disappeared with De Saligny, now dismissed from ofiice, once 
more poor, sore at heart, and engaged in thinking in Paris of the rev- 
elations which he might make : revelations that are looked for with 
impatience, and wh?ch he will never dare utter, for, though he has the ■ 
boldness of intrigue, he has not the courage for action. 

If I add to this moral portrait that of a man of brown complexion, 
small, thin, ruddy, with eyes changing like those of a cat, according to 
the light that falls upon them, and an exterior naturally commonplace, 
though somewhat improved by the habits of society ; a fast and good 
talker, who would be very dangerous if he could succeed in being sym- 
pathetic, I shall have completed the portrait of a man Avhose action 
was fatal to France and to Louis Napoleon, but will, I trust, be power- 
less in what concerns ourselves. 

Now, that I have shown what the instrument is, let us examine the 
pretext. 



CHAPTER XIII. 

THE LATIN KAOE. 

It is in the name of the preponderance of the Latin race that its cham- 
pion, Louis Napoleon, sent the flag of France into Mexico, and that 
Lamartine has declared America to be the property of Europe. It is in 
the name of the interests of the Latin race in Europe, that Spain sent 
fleets against Chili and Peru, and seeks to lengthen out her powerless 
arm to grasp anew her ancient colonies, now regenerated and formed 
into American republics. 



SOLIDARITY OF NATIONS. 89 

Let us glance at this race, let us examine its past, its present and its 
future, its historical life, active and passive ; what it was in Europe, and 
what it is in America. Let us see if what this race really represents 
in civilization, in philosophy, and in point of fact, warrants the tram- 
melling of progress, the ruin of right ; and let us ask it — like some new 
Joshua — a crowned, booted and spurred Don Quixote, should say to 
that sun of thought, the nineteenth century: "Standstill! thou shalt 
go no further ! the Latin race cannot follow thee ; and the Latin race is 
humanity." 

A man, a poet, a genius of form, deprived of thought, morality, prin- 
ciple or political faith, made more aged by error and by pleasure than 
by years, an abortion of a great man, Lamartine, in a word, has made 
himself the bard of the Latin race and its officious advocate. 

He alone has understood the imperial idea which he considers "just 
as necessity, vast as the ocean, new as, V apropos, a statesman's thought 
fertile as the future, a thought of salvation for America, as well as for 
the world. " 

In replying to a man who takes things up from so lofty a stand, I 
should have little to say to embrace my subject entire, starting al- 
ways from this thought : " It is necessary," says Monsieur de Lamar- 
tine, " to depart from a very high stand to conceive its scope. The 
first empire, an entirely military empire, which gave up Louisiana for 
a piece of army bread, never conceived such a one." 

That is a curious elevation of thought in which the grandest combi- 
nations appear to man only as microscopic details. Where Napo- 
leon I, soaring into the future, discovered a rival to England and 
an ally for France, where his practical genius created both bv ridding 
himself of a ruinous colony, 'which it was impossible to retain, his 
nephew and Lamartine see only an error and a contractor's agreement. 

Monsieur de Lamartine continues : '* The thought of a bold and effi- 
cacious position to be taken in Mexico, against the usurpation of the 
United States of America, is a novel but just thought. " 

"Europe has a right to it ; France takes the initiative. " 

"Let us see the right from that elevated point of view from which 
the lawfulness of things are seen, and let us start from the fact, true, 
though not radical, that the globe is the property of man ; the netv conti- 
nent — America — is the property of Europe." 

It is a sorry point of view from which the lawfulness of things is 
discovered outside of morality. The galleys are filled with men who, be- 
cause they rose so high above the lawfulness of rnmeand thine, were 
brought down to earth at Brest, Toulon, Sing Sing or Tortugas, by the 
weight of the irons which society thought it advisable to rivet to their 
feet. It is this galley-slave's morality which controls the lawfulness of 
property by covetousness, that Monsieur de Lamartine wishes to intro- 
duce into the code of nations. His thought is, certainly, quite as novel 
as it is just ; but he deceives himself in making France and Europe the 
accomplices of his highly original morality. 

*.' Starting from this principle," continues he, "now become a fact, that 
the American continent is the property of the human species, and not 
the riven union of a single race without right or title, at least over Span- 
ish America, and the Latin race the parent of all civilization, the principle 
of the protection of Europe and its independence, at least in its seven- 



90 MEXICO, AND THE 

teen republican states in Southern America, evidently flows forth as to 
us and all the powers of the Old World. Events must be foreseen. 
The Latin race must be protected, and, in order to protect, a position 
must first be taken upon the threatened point against the United States. 

"This must be done, or it must be declared that the new continent, 
the possession of Europe, will belong entire, in twenty-four years, per- 
haps, to those armed pioneers, who only recognize their convenience 
as the claim to usurpation, and who permit their citizens, as, for ex- 
ample, Walker, to individually raise fleets and armies against Cuba, 
whUe their federal general, in the name of the Union, enters Mexico, and 
thence all the capitals of civilized America in the South !" 

Who, then, are we who people America "? Where is that imique 
race, without right or title, who possess it 1 Are we not French, Ger- 
man, English, Irish, Italians, Spanish, Russians, Poles, Belgians, 
Swedes, Danes, Chinese and Turks — in a word, the living and univer- 
sal protestation of the free human species against crowned oppressors % 
There is our right, and therein oiu" title of property. Do you mean to 
deny this ? Advocate of the past ! 'show the title of your client to the 
property of the future ! 

And what, after all, is America, if not the immense crucible in which 
God amalgamates the races in fusion, in order to cause the future type 
of humanity, the free man, to appear ? 

The globe is the property of man, and the new continent that of 

UBERTY ! 

It is owing to this title, and to it alone, that we all, without distinc- 
tion of race or nation, exiles, voluntary or not, from despotic and Cath- 
olic Europe, have taken possession of this continent ; it is by this title 
that we shall know how to defend its integrity and develop its great- 
ness. By shaking the dust off om* feet upon the threshold of the Old 
World, we have said ^'Raca!" to that stepmother whose impoverished 
frame bears only beggars and courtiers, and who has no longer any 
place at her fireside even for Hugo, the greatest poet of modern times. 

Ubi lihertas, ibipatria. 

Monsieur de Lamartine is wrong in speaking of that Latin race as 
"the mother of all civilization." That civilization of the "good old 
times " is not so far behind us but that we can still hear the groans of 
its victims. At Monsieur de Lamartine's age, the ossified heart no 
longer beats, the veiled eye discerns no longer, the impaired hearing is 
no longer susceptible ; but we, we still feel the burning stigma that the 
droits du seigneur branded upon our brows ; the rust has not yet eaten 
away the instruments of torture to which the bleeding limbs of our 
brothers hung ; we see their palpitating remains, and the last death 
rattle of their agony still grates upon our ears,, crying hatred, venge- 
ance and liberty. 

Your Latin civilization is Catholicism, and Catholicism is reason 
humbled before faith. " Believe Avithout understanding, obey without 
murmuring, humble thyself and hold thy tongue," say your priests and 
your kings. We say : "Do not believe what you do not xmderstand; 
only obey that law to which you have consented ; raise yourself up, 
speak and fight, if your rights and dignity are threatened. Be your 
own judge, priest and king ! Be yourself! Be a Man." 

It is upon these principles that we have associated ourselves to- 



SOLIDARITY OF NATIONS. 91 

gether, men of the future, without distinction of race or nation — ^thus- 
preluding that great universal harmony in which a man will no longer 
be an Englishman, a Frenchman, or an American, but a man, the im- 
mense edifice, the eternal monument of divine goodness and wisdom^ 
based upon science and crowned by liberty. 

It is in vain that Lamartine endeavors to place Walker's expedition, 
and similar acts, upon the account book of liberty. It would, be neces- 
sary to be ignorant or unjust not to know that Jlibustiei- expeditions: 
were exclusively composed of southern adventurers, and that they de- 
rived their origin, as well as their resources, from that aristocracy^ 
driven back by the North, which sought in the South for a means of 
territorial increase for its privileged institution. 

We have been in Mexico, it is true, but, though victory led us there,, 
respect for right brought us back. We ask your superior civilization, 
to imitate us. 

You speak of the civilized capitals of South America. To Avhat 
civilization do you allude? To that which caused thousands of women 
to perish in the Church of Santa Fe, because of failure in performing a 
miracle, or to that which protested, by the voice of indignant brothers 
and husbands, against the excessive influence of the Roman priesthood 
over their wives and sisters and daughters ? 

Is it the civilization of Naples, with its bleeding Saint Janvier and 
that of Santa Fe Avith its weeping Virgin, that you|Avish, in harmony 
with Spain, to protect in America 1 It is only necessary to under- 
stand the value of words. With you, to protect means to seize, and 
civilization means bigotry. Let us adopt these definitions, but allow: 
us to repulse both protection and civilization. 

We shall be none the less vrtuous and religious ; we shall continue- 
to go every Sunday to our churches to worship the Eternal Father^ 
without believing in any miracle however small; all the virgins upon 
earth may shed all the tears in their eyes, and Saint Janvier may wast& 
all the blood in his body ; we shall not pay the slightest attention to- 
it : and as for our ministers, we pay them, but we do not grant them 
either the hearts of our wives or the keys of our houses. • 

You see that our civihzation is not the oflspring of the Latin civili- 
zation. Why, then, do you say that the latter is the mother of all 
others ? 

Yoyrs is confusion of ideas as well as confusion of words. Where- 
is th e Latin race 1 Where is the Anglo Saxon race ? Can France, 
with two-thirds of its population of Celtic and Saxon races, call her- 
self the Latin race ? And can North America, with half her popula- 
tion of Celtic or Latin race, call herself Anglo Saxon % Most assurdl j 
not. 

The Latin race is all entire in Southern Italy and in certain parts of 
Spain and Provence, as the Anglo Saxon race is confined to England- 
To be convinced of this it is sufficient, without having recourse to any 
ethmological research, to glance at two crews taken by chance from the 
English, French and American fleets. The English sailors are ruddy, 
heavy, light haired and fair, forming a striking contrast with the- 
United States sailors, thin, fall of nerve, dark haired and tall, while- 
the French sailors, almost like those of America, are, nevertheless,, 
shorter in stature and broader in the shoulders. 



•92 MEXICO, AND THE 

Our nice is the race of the future. Without a historical past, that, 
race is as yet without a name. God grant that it may bear that o^y(' 
America. 

There was a time when nations, confined and packed into certain 
■very restricted limits, for want of means of communication, to a cer- 
itain degree, constituted races. Then, there was a Latin race, whose 
ignorance, lust, violence and narrow-mindedness have left bloody and 
ridiculous traces in history. That race burned John Huss, and forced 
-Galileo to retract. It had the crown with the tiara and the stake as 
its symbols, and as its representatives, a warrior, a bishop and a prosti- 
tute. Every^ where that the Latin race appears it is preceded, accom- 
panied and followed by these three personages. Little does it matter 
whether it crosses the ocean with Cortes or Forey. Centuries change 
nothing in its way of acting. Only liberty and contact with the 
^axon race can modify it. 

The Latin I'ace of the past is Borgia and Torquemada. Francis I, 
the ret chevalier, that Latin king, par excellence, who died of quite an- 
other plague than that of Saint Louis, after having bartered his child- 
ren for is person and his people for his children. The Latin race is 
Louis XV, and the present queen of Spain ; it is Bourbon and Bona- 
parte. It is France, with 600,000 functionaries for ten millions ot 
men, a governor to every fifteen governed, which caused Paul Louis 
Courrier to say that his people were a race of lacqueys. 

It is France, an entire nation, formerly free and warlike, now sub- 
jected and united in sending her learned men, her old men, her sold- 
iers and her workers to bend down before a lad of ten years of age, 
president " heaven save the mark!" (of the Universal Exhibition!) 
It is before this supreme expression of industry and science with a 
stick of barley candy in his mouth, that the most eminent men from 
all parts of the world will come to incline themselves. It is great, 
beautiful, and quite worthy of tlie epoch ! Yet we, free men, propose 
to form' a part of the cortege of European servility, and to go and bow 
•down also before the imperial baby ! 

This is, contempt of nations carried to its furthest limit. It is Vic- 
tor Emmanuel pressing the hand of Napoleon, who retains the capital 
■of his people. It is the Greek people, the Roman people, the Belgian 
people, distributed without then- consent to certain men of a particular 
species called princes. It is the light-haired prince of Austria declared 
by Louis Napoleon unworthy of governing Milan, but thought 
^ood enough to be made a Mexican Emperor. It is the people of 
France paying 500,000,000 to extirpate the Hapsburg poison in Italy, 
and 750,000,000 to transport it to Mexico, where it becomes the uni- 
versal panacea. The Latin idea is superiority always affirmed, never 
proved, which says to the Arabs, by Louis Napoleon's lips : — 
''You belong to us by right of civilization;" to the republics of 
-the South, " by the cannon ^of Spanish fleets ;" Monarchy never ab- 
dicate even by treaty ; to America by the voice of Leamartine : "You 
are the property of Europe because you have gold and corn." For, 
to return to Lamartine's own words : " Now, who does not know 
that the corn and wheat of America, of the valley of the Mississippi, 
especially, are the granary of the world in case of famine, as Sicily 
■was the granary of the Romans." 



SOLIDARITY OF NATIONS. OS- 

Who does not know that the master of cajDital is tlie master of in- 
terests, and that Em-ope, soon given up to this country of all mono- 
poly, would forever bear her yoke 1 Who does not know that, mas- 
ters of the price of silver and gold, they Avould also be masters of our 
most vital industry, and that their already planned coalition against 
the silk trade, Avhich rivals their cotton trade, would ruin Lyons, the- 
capital of tissues, and the second capital of France ! " 
"Let us then seize Amei'ica." 

The Latin idea is the suppression of the commandments of God re- 
placed by the Gosple according to coveteousness. 

The Latin idea is monopoly deified in the person of an emperor. 
Who, then, can print his thoughts, discuss public expenses, defend his 
interest and the dignity of the country, without permission of the Em- 
peror in France? Who then, has the monopoly of thought in France? 
Who then thinks, speaks, acts, consumes for France ? A man, a single 
man ! Is not this the last ^shameful and pitable expression of mo- 
nopoly? Forty million of French monopolised by one ! 

The Latin idea is hypocrisy, as necessary to tyrants as to slaves. The 
Latin idea in the past, it is the ferocity of the tiger Marquez, causing 
Jose Charez to be assassinated in cold blood, after having massacred a 
hundred of his sleeping soldiers. It is that tiger, with a humane face 
causing seven physicians, whom he had torn from the bedside of their 
hospital patients, to be assassinated by moonlight in Tacubaya. It is 
Miramon stealing 3,000,000, from the cash box of the English consu- 
late ; it is Tuloaga, Ramirez and Almonte. 

The Latin idea, the traditional idea, is that of sovereign authority, 
personified in the mind by opposition to popular sovereignity personifi- 
ed in the mass ; it is monarchy, just as the Ameiican idea is the re- 
public. 

The Latin idea, the negation of liberty, equality, solidarity, those 
essential and divine belongings of man, is a chronic blasphemy, and 
its triumph would be the denial of God. 

Fortunately, side by side with the Latin race of the past, is the 
Latin race of the present, regenerated by liberty and by contract Avitb 
the Saxon race of the new world. If the former had its Boro-ias, its 
Bonbons, its Bonapartes, its Marquez and its Dupins, if it had Michael 
Chevalier and Lamartine, to preach its crusade, a Saint Simonian con- 
demned by the correctional police for having preached the serfdom of 
man and the freedom of women, the rehabitation of matter and flesh at 
the expense of mind and morals, a " free lover,*' and a beggar without 
decency, who spits upon the hand that refuses him alms, let us thank 
God that the latter has had its Bolivar, its Juarez, and its Garibaldi. 
If Marquez, Dupin, Mendez, and their like, in vktue of the orders of 
their sovereign have basely assassinated defenceless prisoners, Juarez 
better inspired, has generously sent back the Belgian prisoners, refus- 
ing to avenge liimself upon the innocent. 

Guided by the example of Washington and by that of our fathers 
these men have perferred right to power, justice to force and the esteem 
of their fellow-citizens, to titles and crosses. Thanks to these ex- 
amples and to the remembrance of past oppression, the American re- 
publics, regenerated by liberty, they are ridding themselves eveiy day 
of all useless mitred and gold laced men. Free and joyous, they 



t9-4 MEXICO, AND THE 

'have proved to the world that a nation attends to its affairs much 
ibetter without such men than with them. 

But, neither Louis Napoleon nor the Pope nor Spain could tolerate 
:siieh scandal. The Latin idea mocked at by the Latin's themselves ! 
What an example ! 

The champions of the Latin race resolved to put an end to the ex- 
asting scandal and to seek out the idea opposed to then- own and 
strangle it upon its own hearth. We Americans were to strong, they 
were obliged to content themselves with Mexico, while waiting for 
•something better, and thus it is that the last named unfortunate coun- 
try has been obliged to undergo the invasion of the Russians of the 
•west, of a new attila coming to destroy republican civilization in the 
name of monarchial barbarity. 

Thanks to the French people, which must not always be confounded 
with its government, and thanks to ourselves in a measure the experi- 
'ment will fail. Spai}i does not consider herself beaten in order to ob- 
tain consolation for the prostration of her hopes in Mexico, seeks a 
^compensation in Chile and Peru. The question is the same. . The pro- 
portions only are changed. 

This is the second time, in less than half a century, that Europe has 
^sought to throw itself upon America. The first time, the attempt 
cinded in the Monroe doctrine, let us hope that this time, it will make 
the solidarity of nations a fact and a truth. 



CHAPTER XIV. 

THE MONROE DOCTEINE. 

The Monroe Doctrine has furnished and still continues to furnisli 
rsubject-matter for considerable discussion ; and judging from the 
views of Europe, and those of our State Department, the question 
appears to be not well understood. By the first it is interpreted as 
a species of ostracism directed by America against Europe, and is 
■consequently considered as a drawback to the absolute liberty that 
we invoke ; by the second it is interpreted as an edict of the Southern 
pro-slavery faction, giving the American continent the monopoly of 
slavery, without the possibility of any interference on the part of 
the so-called liberals of Europe, as fiir as regards the " peculiar in- 
stitution." In the opinion of the latter it is destined to disappear 
simultaneously with the institution which it was intended to protect 
and with its founders. Mr. Seward, we believe, would not give one 
.dollar nor one man towards the maintenance of the Monroe Doctrine. 

Both of these interpretations err in representing the great pal- 
ladium, not only of America, but of universal liberty, as a blow 
aimed at liberty. 

As the maintenance of this doctrine is one of the fundamental fea- 
.tures of our platform, and as it involves the life and death of America 
and liberty — which are synonymous terms, America having no right 
to ejist in a political, social, or religious sense, except as the liberal 
outlet of the old world, and as its regenerator through liberty — we 



SOLIDARITY OF NATIONS. 95 

propose to treat this question thoroughly, in its past, present and 
future. We design to examine into the circumstances under which 
and from which it originated ; in what conditions it now exists ; upon 
what ground it has been attacked ; by what arguments it should be 
defended ; and finally, what would be the political consequences of 
its abandonment, 

DEFINITION. 

"The Declaration ol Independence was the. first breath of inde- 
pendent national life on this continent. The United States assumed 
at once the rank and the responsibilities of a real nation among 
nations, having the right to govern itself, to make war and peace, 
and to determine its own policy in relation to other nations, accord- 
ing to its own judgment of its own interests and duties. This new 
nation was not in Europe, was not subject to the liabilities of the 
European governments, nor interested in the rise and fall of European 
dynasties, not concerned for the maintenance of the balance of jjower 
in Europe, not subject to the calculations and complications of Eu- 
ropean statesmanship. It was a new sensation, an unsolved problem, 
to meet face to face an American nation, civilized. Christian, respon- 
sible, and respectable, demanding a place among the family of nations, 
as one of them, and yet separate and aloof from all the machinations 
of dij^lomacy, and unconcerned in any of the anxieties of state-craft. 
ISTo wonder that kings and courts were at a loss and uneasy with 
such«an anomaly. From that day no art or effort has been left un- 
tried to bring the United States into their circle, as a new subject 
for their tricks and manoeuvres." — Mev. J. Leavitt. 

The United States, as a nation, originated, as have all other na- 
tions, in war. There was a war with France, and a war with Eng- 
land ; a war without army, navy, or money, but supported by the 
people on their oAvn account, a war that could have but one issue — 
victory. 

The independence of the United States as well as the absolute 
diplomatic isolation of the country were duly admitted. In order to 
comprehend the value of that diplomatic isolation, and the circum- 
stances which gave birth to the complications necessitating the Mon- 
roe doctrine, we have to consider what was, and still is, the compass 
directing every political combination between the governments of 
Europe. This compass is known as the "Balance of Power," and is 
thus defined by Doctor Leavitt : 

" The circle of nations who recognize this system are supposed to 
maintain an understanding among themselves, that no one among 
them can interfere with the essential rights of another among thern 
without exposing itself to the censure of the rest, and then to the 
danger of a counter interference and coalition for the redress of the 
wrong. Also, that no one nation ought to acquire such surpassing 
power as to be able to defy this censure, or to domineer at pleasure 
over any or all of the rest. The coalitions to curb the g]-asj)ino- am- 
bition of Charles V., of Louis XIY., and of Napoleon Bonaparte, 
are instances of gigantic struggle and vast combination of streno-th 
for the preservation of the Balance of Power." 

That a practical form might be given to this system the five o-reat 
powers of Europe declared themselves judges, or an Executive 



96 MEXICO, ANDTHE 

Committee of the affairs of nations. The following extract from 
Mr. Kinglake's Crimean War very accurately sets forth the custom, 
if not the law, exercised in regulating European affiiirs : 

" It is a rough and wild-grown system, and its observance can only 
be enforced by opinion, and by the belief that it truly coincides with 
the interests of every power which is called upon to obey it ; but 
practically, it has been made to achieve a fair portion of that security 
which ^.sanguine men might hope to see resulting from the adoption 
of an international* code. Perhaps, under a system ideally formed 
for the safety of nations and for the peace of the world, a wrong 
done to one State would be instantly treated as a wrong done to all. 
But in the actual state of the world there is no such bond between 
nations. It is true that the law of nations does not stint the right 
of executing justice, and that any Power may either remonstrate 
against a wrong done to another State, great or small, or may en- 
deavor, if so it chooses, to prevent or redress the wrong by force 
of arms ; but the duties of States in this respect are very far from 
being coextensive with their rights. 

" In Europe, all States except the Five Great Powers are exempt 
from the duty of Avatching over the general safety ; and even a State 
which is one of the five great powers is not practically under an ob- 
ligation to sustain the cause of justice, unless its preception of the 
wrong is re-enforced by a sense of its own interests. Moreover, no 
•State, unless it be combating for its very Jife, can be expected to en- 
gage in a war without a fair prospect of success. But When the 
three circumstances are present — when a wrong is being done against 
any State, great or small, when that wrong in its present or ulterior 
consequences happens to be injurious to one of the five great powers, 
and finally, when the great power so injured is competent to wage 
war with fair hopes, then Europe is accustomed to expect that the 
great power which is sustaining the hurt will be enlivened by the 
smart of the wound, and for its own sake, as Avell as for the public 
weal, will be ready to come forward in arms, or to labor for the for- 
mation of such leagues as may be needed for \ipholding the cause of 
justice. If a power fails in this duty to itself and to Europe, it grad- 
ually becomes lowered in the opinion of mankind, and happily there 
is no historic lesson more true than that which teaches all rulers that 
a moral degradation of this sort is speedily followed by disasters of 
such a kind as to be capable of being expressed in arithmetic." (Pp. 
;36, 37.) _ 

Now, if we Avish to see how this balance of power works under 
the management of the Executive Committee formed of the five 
great powers, we have but to listen to Doctor Leavitt, who informs 
us partially of the benefits arising from this holy alliance, but still 
sufficiently to give us a general idea of the spirit which animates and 
directs it : 

" Some instructive views of the practical operation of this system, 
in the case of what are called Minor Powers, may be gathered from 
a cursory examination of the history of Modern Greece. About 
forty years ago, the people of Greece, of their OAvn accord and by 
their own motion, threw off the intolerable yoke of Turkey, and de- 
clared, themselves an independent nation. Thereupon, and forthwith, 



S O r. I D A R I T Y O F liKiA' D,I Q N,8;.!. 97 

it' vi-V) v.fTJd'd'Uf^' 

.the Three Great Powers took the nation in charge, forbade the 
further attempts of Turkey to subdue them, and required of them to 
•confine their country forever within certain narrow limits, to become 
a, hereditary monarchy, and to choose a king for themselves from 
among the royal families of Europe, subject to the approval of the 
Tiaree Powers. They also assume the right of requiring the funding 
of the revolutionary debt, nominally of fourteen millions of dollars, 
although only five millions had reached the national treasury. In 
1832, the Powers interfered again, creating another debt of teii mil- 
lions, of which aboiit one million went for roads and other beneficial 
objects, and the rest was absorbed by the harpies of King Otho's 
court. In 1854, the debt had grown to sixty millions, and there was 
another interference of the Three Powers, resulting in a requisition 
that Greece should reserve annually nine hundred thousand trancs — 
nearly two hundred thousand dollars — for her creditors, out of a 
revenue barely reaching four millions per annum, in a country where 
maaterial civilization is far in arrear. This requirement, after some 
years delay, was complied with for one year, and then followed a 
revolution. But Greece is still held by the bondage of this debt 
irnder the tutelage of the ever present Three Powers, who allow no 
free choice to the people but to try over again tiie disastrous experi- 
ment so fully tried out in thirty years of unhapiness, of another 
hereditary dynasty, imder a king subject to the approval of the 
Powers. And the millstone of a debt of sixty millions, for which 
Oreece never received above one tenth of the value, is still bound 
about her neck, and the yearly payment is to be coerced by the 
Powers, on penalty of war, and subjugation, and national extinction. 
Such is the working of the political system of Europe, as organized 
by the Congress of Vienna, and administered by the Great Powers. 
Some American writers have spoken of the Holy Alliance as a thing 
of the past. Greece finds it a living dominion, from whose grasp 
-she as yet sees no possible way of escape. Perhaps some reflecting 
minds will trace out from this example an analysis of the principles 
involved in the Treaty of London, under which the Mexican Re- 
public is invaded by a European coalition to compel the payment of 
debts and claims even more exorbitant than those under which 
Greece is pressed to the earth, and will thus learn the meaning of 
the phrase, the extension of the Political System of Eui-ope to the 
American Continent." 

The avowed object of the balance of power system being to es- 
tablish and maintain public tranquility in Europe, it became necessary 
for the Executive Committee to adopt a political governing formula, 
one that should alone be received as legal ; and the monarchical 
•form was naturally adopted by the five great monarchical powers as 
the only one compatible with the peace' of Europe. In the name of 
4;his sacred principle all liberty to Tiianage their own afi:airs conson- 
antly with their respective interests and sympathies, was denied to 
those nations that might be too weak to uphold their rights by force. 
It was a vast association of speculators in nationalities under the 
eontrol of five crowned highwaymen and Europe was the scene of 
their first exploits. 

Being warned by the terrible example of France, which, during 



98 M E X I C O , A N L> 'I H E 

twenty-five years, in the name of liberty, withstood alone all Europe 
coalesced, succumbing only when the despotism of Bonaparte prove«l 
that liberty had nothing further to hope from the despot's victories, 
this European Executive Committee, or Holy Alliance, resolved- to 
prevent the introduction of the liberal element everywhere and under 
all possible forms of government, even under the monarchical form. 
its heau ideal, its political standard, was asolute and hereditanr 
monarchy, born of divine right, consecrated by priestly ceremonies^ 
and protected by the sword. Constitutional monarchies were eon- 
cessions made to the times and to the force of public sentiment, '» 
new element born in Europe of the French revolution. This eleraeut 
was weak then, but since it has grown unceasingly until it now oc- 
cupies an important place in the counsels of Europe, where it will 
iiideed shortly occupy the.first. 

The Swiss Republic was an anomaly due to circumstances alto- 
gether local. 

It has never been, nor ia it to-day, admitted that a government 
sprung from the will of the people can have an equal political aud 
moral value with a government arising from divine right, that is, a 
government based upon traditionary abuses, and one that is account- 
able to God alone in the persons of its ministers. 

The consequence of this doctrine is, that any attempt on the part 
of a people to directly ameliorate their political form of government 
is immoral and injurious to the balance of power or the peace of Eu- 
rope, and sacreligious, moreover, as it aims a blow at the divine 
rights of dynasties. Such a movement is deemed null and void in 
right and deed, and it is the province of the Executive Committee to 
intervene to prevent it, if possible, but in any event to prevent its 
extension. 

This was the doctrine of the conservative party at the period whe» 
the Congresses of Aix la Chapelle, Trappau, Laybach, and Verona 
were held, and it was expressed in the following formula in a joint 
circular issued by the sovereigns to their respective legations ; a 
circular to which England paw fit to reply by a counter-circular, ad- 
dressed to her diplomatic agents, which establishes the authenticity of 
the document. It reads : "The powers have undoubtedly the right 
to take precautionary measures in common, where it only for the sake 
of example, against those States where the political changes produced 
by rebellion are hostile to legitimate government." 

We will add, that the doctrine prevailing at that time is the present 
doctrine of the conservative party. Opportunities to put the doctrine 
into practice were not wanting before long. 

In July, 1820, the Neapolitan revolution broke out. At the rc^ 
quest of the Emperor of Austria the Czar of Russia and the Kingr 
of Prussia met at Trappau, at which conference the envoys of France 
and England were received, and there it was decreed to quash the 
Neapolitan revolution. But, before proceeding further, tlie sovereigns 
agreed to meet the following year at Laybach, and to invite the 
King of Naples to be present at this Congress. 

The declaration made by the sovereigns was explicit beyond the 
possibility of misinterpretation. They proclaimed that they would 
not suffer in any country a political establishment antagoniatic to 



S () L I D A li 1 T Y OF N A T 1 O N S . 99 

the principle ot monarchical legitimacy, and that they did not in any 
manner recoginize the new order of things existing at Naples, and they 
decided that the King should be reinvested with the power ad in- 
tegram as held by him on the fifth of July, 1820. Another dispatch, 
addressed by these sovereigns to their diplomatic agents on th^e 
twelfth of July, 1821, is expressed thus: "Useful or necessary 
changes ift the legislation and administration of States should em- 
anate alone from the free will and the mature and enlightened im- 
pulsion of those whom God has rendered responsible and entrusted 
with power. All action aside from this course must lead to disorder 
and perturbation, to evils much more intolerable than those Avhich it 
is attempted to remedy." Being convinced of this etei-nal truth, 
the sovei'eigns unhesitatingly proclaimed it, frankly and vigorously. 
They decided that while respecting the rights and the independence 
of every legitimate power, they would consider as legally void and 
inconsistent with the principles constituting the public right of Eu- 
rope, any assumed reform effected by revolt or open force. 

The following year another congress Avas held ; at Verona this 
time. It Avas no longer the question of Naples at this conference, 
but of Spain, which had drawn up a constitution to the offence of 
the ligitimate government of Louis XVIII. After consultation, the 
Congress declared its willingness to support France, if necessary, in 
the ligitimate enterprise of eradicating this germ of liberalism. 
Upon this point, Prince Metternich Avrote to the Austrain represen- 
tative at Madrid : " Faithful to the system of conservatism and peace, 
for the maintenance of which he has contracted invoilable engage- 
ments Avith his august allies. His Majesty Avill not cease to consider 
all disorder and perturbations, whichever part of Europe may suffer 
by them, as a subject of lively solicitude to all the governments," 
etc. 

Thus the perturbations and disorder in the Spanish colonies affect^ 
ing Spain as a part of Europe, Europe proposed to apply the balance 
of power and public tranquility system in the New World, the Avhole 
being based upon the only political form capable of insuring it& 
duration, namely, the monarchical form ; and we can conceive that 
the Government at Washington at that time must have seriously re- 
fiected upon the possible extension of the political system of Europe- 
to America. 

In order to comprehend the importance of Prince Metternich's. 
dispatch, it must be remembered that the Spanish colonies, during the 
war between Spain and Bonaparte, being separated from the mother 
country, restricted as all colonies are, discontented and obliged to 
provide for their own future, had declared themselves independent^ 
perhaps at the instigation of Bonaparte, and ^Avith the exception of 
Brazil and Mexico, the latter temporarily, had adopted the republican 
form of government ; and this great declaration of independence 
swept away the last vestiges of European doctrines and influence on 
the American Continent in one of the great liberal .triumphs of this 
country, Daniel Webster thus describes it in his magnificent 
language: 

" Among the great events of the half-century, Ave must respect 
certainly, the revolution of South America; and we are not likely to 



100 MEXICO, AND THE 

overrate the importance of that revohition, either to the growth of 
the country itself, or to the rest of the world. When the battler of 
Bunker Hill was fought, the existence of South America was scarcely 
felt in the civilized world. The thirteen little colonies of North 
America habitually called themselves the Continent. Borne down 
by colonial subjugation, monopoly, and bigotry, those vast regions 
of the South were hardly visible above the horizon. But in our day 
there has been, as it were, anew creation. The Southern Hemisphere 
emerges from the sea. Its lofty mountains begin to lift themselves 
into the light of heaven ; its broad and fertile plains stretch out in 
beauty to the eye of civilized man ; and at the bidding of the voice 
of political liberty, the waters of darkness retire." 

We must take jinto consideration the political situation of the 
United States in 1823, which is perfectly defined by Dr. Lea\ itt, in 
the following terms : 

" Fortunately, we had men in the administration of oiir govern- 
ment, who possessed both the wisdoin and the 2)airiotis)n to compre- 
hend the situation, and act as the occasion required. It was the 
golden 2)eriod of our 2)oUtical hist07'i/. The devotion to public in- 
terests which characterized the days of the , i-evolution had not died 
out, for Jefferson, Madison, Marshall, Rufus King, and many of their 
compatriots were still alive. The native sagacity of our early 
statesmen which had baffled the diplomatic skill of Europe, had been 
ripened by the practical experience of thirty years in the adminis. 
tration of afiairs at home and abroad. Private interest had not become 
so large as to withdraw most of the ablest men from public service. 
Party spirit had not eaten out the keen sense of what becomes the 
honor of the country. And slai^ery had not 7/et exlmguished patroitism in 
half the States of the Union. It was in the lull of party strife called 
'the era of good feelings.' It was the transition period between the 
patriotic inexperience of our infant Government and the dominant sel- 
fishness of late years. Some of the men still in public life had parti- 
cipated in the cares of government when the indiflerence, if not 
contempt of Europe for our insignificance was a shield to us against 
agression. All of them had participated in the anxious and critical 
period of the ' second war of independence,' by which we had at 
length gained the respectful consideration of the European governments. 
It was a crisis in our afiiiirs, and we had men who could see its impor- 
tance, and who knew how to meet it. And it is not too much to say, 
that if the policy which they adopted had been properly carried out by 
their successors, we should have been saved from many humiliations, ; 
as Avell as many political evils, which have been or will be our portion." 

By this we may easily estimate the eflTect produced in the midst of' 
such a social condition, by the following conclusion drawn from the 
doctrines emanating from the Holy Alliance in the name of Europe : 
America is simply an aggregation of individuals who are perfectly free 
to combine or separate at pleasure, according to the capricious law com- 
bining them, without injuring any principle of political ethics. 

Europe formally declared by the voices of her sovereigns, that the 
people are created for the kings to whom they may be allotted by the 
grace of God, represented by his vicars and his ministers here below. 

America replied by her acts and proved by her prosperous example 



S O r. I D A K I T T OF NATIONS. 101 

that governments are made by and for the people, and hence that the 
stability of a government depends entirely upon the consent of the 
people, which may be granted or refused, according to the merits of 
the government. 

The practical conclusion of this antagonism, and of the European 
doctrine, was very simple. In a political as well as moral point of view, 
the Spanish colonies, Avere it only for the sake of example, according to 
the apt expression in the circular issued by the Laybach Congress, 
must resume allegiance to a legitimate government, even should Europe 
be forced to interfere. 

Hence what anxiety must those men have felt who controlled the 
destinies of America in 1823, when they reflected that two such oppo- 
site systems were about to be applied on the same continent ! They 
must have asked of themselves how they, might keep two such hostile 
elements at, peace — the one born of Absolutism, the other of Liberty. 
And when we recollect, moreover, that the existence of America had 
been staked not half a century before in order to escape from the ab- 
liorrent rule whose mere name thrilled them with hatred, we may easily 
conceive that the idea of again encountering the danger of combatting 
the armed propagandism of the absolute doctrines of Europe, inspu'ed 
these men with a vigorous measure, one destined to avert the danger 
before having to contend with it. -. 

Matters were in this state when the death of Lord Castlereagh oc- 
curred. That zealous partizan of the Holy Alliance a short time before 
his death, stated to Mr. Rush, the American Ambassador at London, 
that he would not agree to reconciliation between Spain and her colonies 
unless based upon their entire submission to the mother country. Had this 
decision been carried out, it would certainly have brought about another 
war with America, and the death of this man, who perished by his 
own hand, was therefore a fortunate event for mankind. He was suc- 
ceeded by George Canning, who belonged to a school of politics entirely 
opposed to that of his predecessor. Canning availed himself of the 
first opportunity to inform the French Government that England con- 
sidered the course of events as having substantially decided the question 
of the separation of the colonies from Spain. On the twenty-third 
of August, 1823, Mr. Rush wrote to Mr. Canning in reply to that 
communication : 

" That what his government most earnestly desired Avas to see those 
States ' received into the family of nations by the Powers of Europe, 
and especially by Great Britain ;' that the sentiments in the note were 
shared by the United States, who considered the recovery of the colo- 
nies of Spain to be entirely hopeless, and would. ' regard as highly 
imjust, and as fruitful of disastrous consequences, any attempt on the 
part of any European power, to take possession of them by conquest, 
by cession, or on any other ground or pretext whatever.' " 

This was the prologue to the Monroe Doctrine, which was defined, 
by the President Monroe, on the second December, 1823, in his annual 
message, as follows : 

" Of events in that quarter of the globe Avith w^hich we have so 
mush intercourse, and from which we derive our origin, we have always 
been anxious and interested spectators. The citizens of the United 
States cherish sentiments the most friendly in favor of the liberty and 



102 MEXICO, AND THE 

happiness of tlieir fellow-men on that side of the Atlantic. In the 
wars of the European Powers, in matters relating to themselves, we 
have never taken any part, nor does it comport with our policy so to 
do. It is only when our rights are invaded, or seriously menaced, 
that we resent injuries, or make preparations for our defence. With 
the movements in this hemisphere, we are of necessity more immedi- 
ately connected, and by causes which must be obvious to all enlightened 
and impartial? observers. The political system of the allied powers is 
essentially different in this respect from that of America. This differ- 
ence proceeds from that which exists in their respective governments. 
And to the defence of our own, which has been achieved with so much 
expense of blood and treasure, and matured by the wisdom of their 
m.ost enlightened citizens, and under which we have enjoyed most un- 
exampled felicity, this whole nation is devoted. We owe it, therefore, 
to candor, and to the amicable relations subsisting between the United 
States and these Powers, to declare, that we should consider any at- 
tempt on their part to extend their system to any portion of this hem- 
isphere as dangerous to our peace and safety. With the existing 
colonies or dependencies of any European Power we have not interfered, 
and shall not interfere. But with the governments who have declared 
their] independence, and maintained it, and whose independence we 
have, on great consideration, and on just principles, acknowledged, we 
could not view any interposition, for the purposes of oppressing them, 
or controlUng in any other manner their destiny, by any European 
Power, in any other light than as the manifestation of an unfriendly 
disposition tOAvard the United States. In the war Jbetween these gov- 
ernments and Spain, we declared our neutrality at the time of their 
recognition, and to this we have adhered, and shall continue to adhere, 
provided no change shall occur, which, in the judgment of the compe- 
tent authorities of this Government, shall make a corresponding change 
on the part of the United States indispensable to their Security." 

In another part of the message he informs Congress that he deemed 
the oppoi'tunity fitting to declare to the Russian Government that the 
American Continents, by the free and independent conditions they 
have assumed and maintained, are henceforth not to be considered 
subjects for future colonization by any European power. This doctrine, 
as shown in the preceding declarations, is summarily described by 
Doctor Leavitt in these terms : 

" 1st. That the American Continents, (leaving out the islands) are 
henceforth not to be considered subject to any future colonization by 
any European nation. 

" 2d. That we shall consider any attempt on the part of the European 
Powers to extend their political system to any portion of this hemis- 
phere as ' dangerous to our peace and safety,' and ot course to be 
counteracted or provided against, as we shall deem advisable in any case. 

" 3d. That for any European power to interfere with any American 
Government for the purpose of oppressing or dictating to them unjustly, 
or of controlling their destiny by force or threats, would be viewed 
by us as 'the manifestation of an unfriendly disposition toward the 
United Stales, which we should be called upon to notice by protest or 
remonstrance, or in such way as we should think our honor and inter- 
est required." 



SOr. lUAKITY OF NATIONS. 103 

The Sage of Monticello characterizes it as follows, in a letter to 
President Monroe; dated 24th October, 1823 : 

*' That made us a nation ; this sets our compass, and points the course 
which xoe are to steer through the ocean of time. And never could we 
embark on it under circumstances more auspicious. Our first and fun- 
daaaental maxim! should be, never to entangle ourselves in the broils of 
Europe. Our second, never to suffer Europe to intermeddle ivith cis- 
Atlantic affairs. America has a set of interests, (North and South), 
distinct from those of Europe, and peculiarly her own. She should, 
therefose, have a system of her own, separate and apart from that of 
Europe ; the last is laboring to become the domicil ©f despotism ; our 
endeavors should surely be to make our hemisphere that of freedom." 

And Mr. Benton defined the idea of the American Government 
even still better in the following sentence : 

^' The Holy Alliance for the maintenance of the order of things 
wkich they had established in Europe, took it under advisement to 
■extend their care to the young American republics of Spanish origin, 
and to convert them into monarchies, to be governed by sovereigns of 
European stocks — such as the Holy Allies might put upon them. It 
was against the extension of this Em'opean system to the two Americas 
that Mr. Monroe protested." 

This was the clear and firm reply uttered by liberty and right to 
kings and despots of the people. America stretched out her mighty 
iiand toward the crowned heads of Europe and cried : "Haiti Not 
a. step further!" This calm warning menace produced a great sensa- 
tion in Europe, and the Liberals took fresh courage, not only in Spain, 
hut throughout the whole world. President Monroe's declaration was 
received with equal favor by all parties in the English Parliament. 
Lord Broughani " declared that no occasion had ever created greater 
joy, exultation and gratitude among all the free men in Europe; that 
he felt a pride in being connected by blood and language with the peo- 
ple of the United States ; that the feeling disclosed by the message 
became a great, a free, and an independent nation ; and that he hoped 
his own country would be prevented by no mean pride, or paltry 
Jealousy, from following so noble and glorious an example." 

Dr. Leavitt adds : 

'' Such a declaration, so uttered, and received with such distinguish- 
ed consideration, and followed by so momentous results, ought not to 
be regarded as of trifling significance or of trasient authority. By it 
the United States took the position which of right belonged to them, 
as the first of American Jrepublics,;the proper representatives of American 
principles, the faithful defender of American interests. It was as Mr. 
Edward Livingstone termed it, ' a pledge to the world,' and involved 
national obligations and responsibilities w^hich will never die out, so 
long as we remain a free republic. For the obligations assumed by 
nations do not die with those who incurred them, or cease to bind be- 
cause not duly valued by a succeeding generation. It became and is 
to us, in our relations Avith both Europe and America, the point of j^ 
honor, in losing which, we become a base nation, for honor is the chas- 
tity of nations, as patriotism is the faith of their citizens. It is to be 
regretted that so many of our own politiicans, from one*motive and 
Another, have either grievously misapprehended the import of the 



104 MEXICO, AND THE 

declaration, or have been insensible of its importance as well as of its- 
permanent force. The learned and judicious compilers of Appleton's- 
Cyclopedia have correctly pronounced it ' a platform of principle on 
this important subject, which has been approved by the prominent, 
statesmen of the country, from the time of its proclamation to the 
present.'" 

Liberty had at last found a defender. The star of liberty rose from- 
the American horizon, and all people learned that they might rally 
around a common centre which would protect their rights, their aspira- 
tions, and their beliefs. From that day we have to date the material 
and moral power of America ; upon that day her divine mission was- 
clearly set forth in the world's history. 

The hope of nations, and a constant menace suspended above the 
head of despotism, an object of love and gratude to^the one. and of 
hatred and apprehension to the other, such has been the moral rank 
of America in the world since the second of December, 1823 ; and so 
grand and strong is this rank, that notwithstanding the strong desire 
more than once manifested by Louis Napoleon and the English aris- 
tocracy to take advantage of the Southern rebellion, to sacrifice the 
object of their antipathies, they have been obliged to fall back, m€H« 
inentarily at least, before public opinion. 

Notwithstanding the importance of President Monroe's declaration, 
it needed the sanction of a public contestation in the Congress, which 
fixed its limits and gave it a national ratification. This contest took 
place in 1826. The Central American republics, Columbia and Mexi- 
co, sent envoys to beg the government of the United States to send 
representatives to the Panama Congress. Mr. Clay favored the propo- 
sition, and the President agreed to it, when the opposition, Avhich was 
embittered by the alleged bargain for the presidency between Adams- 
and Clay, at once seized the opportunity to attack the policy of the 
government. Three leading points were brought into discussion : 

1st. Whether the United States could send representatives to the 
Congress of Panama without violating their neutral policy ? 
2d. The real signification of the Monroe doctrine. 
3d. Whether President Monroe's message should be considered as 
inaugurating the policy of the United States, or as bearing upon s^i 
special question ? ,] 

The opposition said : It is evident that you intend to hold an Amer- 
ican council of amphictyons at Panama, and oppose a holy alliance of 
the people to the holy alliance of sovereigns, and you violate our neu- 
trality. With regard to the Monroe doctrine, said Mr. Hayne, of 
South Carolina, neither Mr. Monroe nor the American people ever in4j 
tended to go beyond a simple protest. That great and good citizea. 
well knew that in this circumstance he could only use moral force. 

This interpretation raised a general outcry of indignation through-, 
out the country, and both the friends and the opponents of the Admiur-:^ 
istration spontaneously combined to reassert the national honor after ■ 
this aflTront. Johnston, Wirt and Webster, as Avell as Livingston and 
Forsyth, received the unanimous applause of the country for protesting 
against Hayne's anti-national interpretation. 

Livingston thus summarily discusses the question: "Monroe's de-.' 
claration has been called an obligation, and so do I consider it. It i^t 



BOLIDAKITT OF NATIOKS. 105 

not an obligation made with ourselves and with posterity, (an expres- 
sion which I consider in fact as a subterfuge unworthy of our country, 
and in form as a solecism,) but an engagement entered into by us witb 
the world, to resist European intervention in America by all means,, 
and although the engagement has been made by only one of the great 
powers, it has been ratified by the unanimous consent of the nation." 

Again, a certain speaker having blamed the Administration for re- 
suscitating a doctrine which ceased to exist with the cessation of the 
circumstances that gave it birth, the majority declared that the United 
States were pre]3ared at all times, and under all circumstances, to op- 
pose the intervention of any European power upon the American con- 
tinent, and that the Monroe doctrine had, in no|wise, ceased|to be the 
basis of American policy. 

President Adams's poHcy received the indorsement of Congress, and 
in 1859 the same doctrine was reafiirmed, regarding England with the 
same vigor as in 1823 and 1826. 

And why is this not the case in 1864? Have the relations in which' 
Europe stands toward America become changed? Has the balance of 
power ceased to be the political compass of Europe ? Is the Holy Al- 
liance principle no longer in force'? Has monarchial propagandism 
abdicated in favor of popular right ? These questions should be put 
and solved before seeking whether it be advisable to maintain or aban- 
don the Monroe doctrine. 

We have seen Greece placed under ransom, bound, gagged, and* 
utterly ruined, but endowed with a protectorate and a king. We have 
seen Italy, that new Tantalus, to whom Louis Napoleon holds up unity 
at the cost of liberty, and whose incarnate soul and living saviour, 
Gai'ibaldi, was martyred at Aspromonte by a bullet from that subject 
of Napoleon, called Victor Emanuel. Each day we have the spectacle- 
of Italy, panting and oppressed, imploring her unity, her existence,, 
only to be refused in the name of the tranquility of Europe, for the.' 
benefit of the balance of power. 

Poland, that valiant daughter of the North, has been cut and rent 
in pieces, broken alive ; but her tenacity of life, once more in the' 
name of right, braves and defies that high sheriff of the Holy Alliance, 
that great European executioner — the Czar of Russia. 

Then there is Hungary, a poor victim, crushed in the iron grasp of 
the Czar of Russia and the Emperor of Austria, those two bandits of 
the North, yet the heroic resistance of Hungary has written down the 
Majgar name among those of the great nations of which humanity- 
may be proud. 

All resistance from these quarters being prevented, all these nations- 
being despoiled, and the French people, their natural protector, being- 
bound hand and foot by a Bonaparte, there remained nothing for the 
Holy AUiance to do, in order to extend the benefits of its organiza- 
tion in favor of public tranquility to the whole world and double it» 
profits, but to attack the American giant, that living protest of right 
against might, of hberty against despotism, of repubhcanism against 
monarchism, of youth against decrepitude — in short, of the new world 
against the old. 

In order to secure the continuance of the civil war raging in Amer- 
ica, there came first a recognition of the belligerent rights of both sides, 
thus placing revolt and duty on an equality. From the day that that 



106 MEXICO, ANDTHE 

monstrous doctrine received the sanction of Seward & Co., we may 
date the abdication of America as a powe'r in the eyes of Europe ; on 
that day Europe first thought of attaining her ends, by leaving the 
great Republic of the United States standing alone, so as to be able to 
attack her in perfect safety, as soon as the country should become suifi- 
«iently weakened by its own efforts at preservation. 

Louis Napoleon was the executor, and probably the promoter of the 
first part of this Machiavellian programme. 

Are we in less danger now than at the time of the first Holy Alli- 
ance? 

Was it not in the name of the most essential principles of the Holy 
Alliance that Bonaparte wrote to Forey to treat any government es- 
tablished in Mexico as provisional, and liable to be replaced at will by 
another government also provisional 1 Is not his intention in Mexico 
simply the putting into practice of the doctrine against which Monroe 
iprotested in 1823 1 He says to Mexico, You have wronged a part of 
Europe by not paying your debts, and by not assuring the safety of 
'Our merchants on your soil ; consequently I call upon my allies to join 
with me and intervene, so as to give you a more stable government, 
and one more consonant with our principles and our European ideas of 
order and honesty ? What difierence is there between the doctrine of 
the Holy AUiance in 1864 and its doctrine in 1823 ? Did not Em-ope 
make use of the same language in 1823 to the Spanish-American colonies 
in rebellion : " You are disturbing public order, injuring a part of Europe, 
^iid giving a bad example ; restore order or we shall interfere.^' 

Will not America remain faithful to her origin, to her history, and 
"her great mission 1 Can there not be found another Monroe in 1864 
to lay a heavy hand upon the crown of Louis Napoleon, and say as 
*our fathers did to the first Holy Alliance : " Halt ! in the name of the 
people. You can advance no further!" 

The Monroe doctrine, if well understood, involves the gravest ques- 
tion of the age. It is destined to fix the battle-field upon which those 
two principles that have been opposed during so many centuries must 
•come together ; where liberty and absolutism, the people and mon- 
archs, the right of the former to live in freedom, and to dispose of 
themselves and of the fruits of their labor, and the privilege of a few 
bandits, crowned by the grace of God, and with the sanction of his 
ministers, to bequeath to their descendants the sacred and inalienable 
right of dividing the people, their labor, their treasure, and their blood 
among themselves, shall decide their contest. 

The American people should comprehend now what their fiithers so 
well understood : that what afiects one people affects all ; that what 
affects the liberty of one affects the whole. Unity against the en- 
croachments of the monarchial system, in the name of the most sacred 
of all rights, that of following one's own will — this is the Monroe 
doctrine. \ 



CHAPTER XV. 

CONCLUSION. 



I HAVE shown, as clearly and succintly as lies in my power, the 
".different phrases of this pitiable Mexican adventure, represented by 



SOLIDARITY OF NATIONS. 107 

Louis Napoleon as the greatest enterprize oi his reign. Notwith- 
standing, it has not succeeded in pleasing any nation, either in Eu- 
rope or America ; neither Mexicans nor French, neithar clericals nor 
liberals, not even Louis Napoleon nor Maximilian themselves. Not 
even the speculators who, vulture-like find a prey everywhere. Eng- 
land alone, perhaps, finds her account in the afiair, but she hoped for 
better things. 

I have shown the duplicity, which, as early as 1861, presided over 
the councils of Spain and France, in the preparations for th.e^'expedition. 
I have shown Spain, deceived in all its Bourbon hopes, retiring sulki- 
ly, while England, after having mingled, just sufiiciently in the plot 
to know alHts details, retired also, rubbing her hands with satisfaction 
at having helped France into a quagmu-e, from which she might 
emerge as best she could. 

I have shown Monsieur Billaut declaring, in 1862, in the name of 
Louis Napoleon, that France had only gone to Mexico to protect its 
natives, and not in the least to mingle with the internal policy of that 
country ; still less to overthrow the established government, while 
Louis Napoleon wrote the contrary to General Forey, telling him : 
that it was necessary to profit by civil w^ar raging in the United States, 
to establish a monarchy in Mexico, as a barrier and counter-poise to 
the power of our great Repubhc, torn and weakened by the South. 
I have reproduced the eloquent protestations of General Prim, who 
bitterly complained of that imperial duplicity, to which he has fallen 
a victim .... an inocent or guilty one, I know not which. 

I have indicated the incredible weakness of our diplomatists in 
foreign countries. I have besides shown Louis Napoleon, pufied up 
by the success of his arms in Mexico, and confiding in the prolonged 
resistance of the South, endeavouring to di-ag England into a media- 
tion hostile to om- interests. I have shown him dictating to Monsieur 
Rouher — the success6r of Monsieur Billaut, in 1864 — language quite 
opposed to his predecessor in 1862, causing Monsieur Rouher to avow 
what Monsieur Billaut then denied, and claiming, for Louis Napoleon, 
the honor of having from the origin of the Mexican question, pre- 
pared, ripened, and profoundly studied that expedition, the aim of 
which, was to heighten the influence of the Latin race, and of which 
the execution was destined to be the supreme conception, the master- 
piece of Louis Napoleon's reign and of his policy. 

Following the course of events, I have traced the language'of the 
French Republic, changing with fortune ; passing from bragging to 
apology and denial, when the defeat of the South, the Mexican resist- 
ance, the opposition of the people and that of the American nation 
had demonstrated to him the inaneness of the imperial conception. 
Monsieur Drouyn de Lhuys then returns to the language of Monsieur. 
Billaut in 1862, and declares that the American Republic had never a{. 
better friend than Louis Napoleon. i.. 

I have thrown out, in relief, as far as possible, the flagrant contra- 
diction existing between the assertions, as to order and security, reit- 
erated by the imperial government ot France and Mexico, and the 
reality, I have demonstrated what the imperial guarantee was worth 
as to order and security. 

I have said what I think of the Monroe Doctrine, not only as to 
American policy, but as to the future liberty of the world. I have re- 



108 MEXICO, AND THE 

presented it as the palladium of nations, the poiiit d'appiu of their 
solidarity, the key of the vault of the future social edifice, which is based 
upon universal progress, and crowned by universal freedom. 

I have noted down, in passing, the imprudent declarations of Louis 
Napoleon, as to the Latin race and the strange afiirmation of Lamartine,, 
the confident of his thoughts, as to his pretended rights in America. I 
have shown, in some measure, what this race has been in the past and 
what it now represents in Europe ; what it is, what it will be in the 
future, upon that continent, rocked upon two. oceans, caressed by lib- 
erty, and sustained by the valiant peoj^le of America. 

And now it remains tor me to conclude. To France, I would say : 
" In 1862, it >vvas sufiicienL for you to maintain the Convention of the 
Solidad. In 1864, when you were in Mexico, you should have treat- 
ed with Juarez, instead of seeking to estalDlish a ruinous empire, 
which it was impossible to sustain. In 1865, you should have left the 
empire to its unlucky fate. In 1866, 1 give you the same advice. 

" Consider your commercial situation," I would add. '' Is not your 
freight higher than that of America or England"? Why*? Because 
you keep up the cadres of an army of 700,000 men, an mimeuse ma- 
chine, which consumes Avithout producing and consequently causes the 
price of everything to be raised. And it is in these conditions that 
you throw yourselt; in the way of free trade ! And it is with unequal 
freight that you wish to struggle with the manufacture of England 
and Germany! On every side complaints arise, and unless you de- 
vote yourself to the exclusive contemplation of your feet, it is impos- 
sible not to see the social storm, which Louis Napoleon, has gathered 
above your head. It is impossible, without imitating the companions 
of Ulysses, not to hear the dull mutteiing of revolutionary thunder 
about to peal forth. Count the cooperative associasions : for on the 
day, when they shall number the majority of the working men in their 
circle, the social revolution will be ready. 

It is impossible for you to struggle with the two greatest maritime 
powers in the world, with an unequal freight ; it is impossible to re- 
establish the equality of freight without increasing the production, 
without decreasing the army ; it is impossible to decrease the army 
without renouncing distant expeditions to Mexico of which the net 
result, stripped of all art, is the loss of 11,000 men, and 750,000,000, 
and an enforced retreat. 

To the United States, I would say : " Read Louis Napoleon's letter 
to General Forey with attention, and pause at the following passages. 
" It is America thatfeed^ our factories and causes our commerce to flour-: 
i^h,^' and, further on, it is to prevent America '^from seizin ff upon the 
Gulf of Mexico, having dominion over the Antilles as well as Southern 
Amenca. and being the only dispenser of the products of the New World.''* 
That Louis Napoleon writes and signs with his own hand, that he 
has resolved upon establishing a monarchy in Mexico. Then draw 
your conclusions and say whether logic does not demand that we 
should defend our assulted interests, and place those of the aggressor 
in jeopardy. Louis Napoleon declares that he sent an army to Mexico 
in the interest of French commerce, in reality he sent it there in the 
interest of the monarchial cause. Let us threaten what he protects, we 
will protect what he threatens. Let us give ourselves up to the paci- 
fic and productive war of tariff", let us pi'otect our labor. Let us 



S O T. I I) A It 1 T Y OF NATIONS. 109 

teach nations that they are responsible for their governments, and 
that, if they are so weak as to suffer themselves to be governed 
against their interests and their wishes, cowardice iinds a just retribu- 
tion here below, like every other vice. It is time to change the inter- 
national code of kings into that of peoples, and to add to it the new 
but essential element of justice and truth. 

Let us then unite, people of America, ye who enjoy the privilege of 
being free, to cause it to be comprehended by the nations of Europe 
that all countries are solidary and that their common, only and univer- 
sal interest, is to be free and to dispose of themselves directly and to 
the greatest advantage to their interests. Then there will be no fur- 
ther monarchial aggression, consequently no more war. Where 
would be the place of a Louis Napoleon among nations "? That of 
Satin in Paradise. 

Life must be made as unendurable as possible to monarchial nations, 
and our people should be made the constant object of envy and jeal- 
ousy. Perhaps they will then find sufficient energy and good sense 
to be rid of the monarchial apparatus applied to nation to draw out their 
substance and crush out their life. 

Why should we protect a government which has not ceased to show 
itself hostile at the expense of our industry and our working men"? 
What interest have we in diverting the lightening from the throne of 
a man whose bad-will towards us is only limited by his powerlesness ? 
What better ally could we have than a French Republic '? 

I am not uttering republican propaganda at this moment, ])ut good 
«ense, common sense. We do not make republican propaganda, be it so, 
we are not yet strong enough to do so ; but that we should aid in 
monarchial propaganda is a thing which it is impossible to justify, we 
nevertheless do so. 

To the Mexicans, I would say : "Fight, fight on, without cessation, 
with or without Juarez, in the name of your republic and liberty, in 
the name of independence and of the dignity of your country, and if 
but one of you remains, let that man rise up, his sword in one hand 
.and the flag of his nation in the other, and let him kill before dyino-. 
There is no treaty to be made with the foreigner and the usurper. Even 
. death is fertile, it brings forth sympathy, respect and vengance. 

What I say to Mexico, I say to the other American republics, for 
there is but one cause and but one principle at stake, that of justice 
and liberty threatened by despotion. The struggle of the South 
against the North, the powerless attacks made against Mexico, Chili 
and Peru by France and Spain are but the lightening warnings of the 
irrepressible conflict between the new and the old world, the past and 
the future, Europe and America. Momentarily abandoned, these 
struggles will be unceasingly resumed, every time that an internal 
dissension or reclamation ofi'ers an opportunity or a pretext. The 
European system cannot be developed nor even maintain itself side by 
side with the American system. It must kill us or die itself Divide 
et wipera is the only motto that it can adopt with regard to us. It has 
divided the North and South, it has divided Mexico, it will divide all 
that it can, then it will attack Nations. Let us be united for defence 
as kings are united for attack, and for our war-cry, let us cast this 
defiance to the winds of battle! " Solidarity ! " victory will respond 
•^'Liberty!" 



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